Spanish Travel News - June 2008 Edition

Dear {!firstname_fix},

We have made some changes to the Spanish Airport Guide to hopefully make it easier for you to find answers to any queries you might have. On the website you will now notice a green "need help?" button in the top left hand corner which takes you into the most frequently asked questions for the airport you are interested in. If you still can't find out what you want to know then you can email us in the normal way.

For those of you travelling into Madrid Airport, we have also written an article on changing terminals at Madrid Airport which gives you details of the various shuttle bus services and where they are located.

If you are going to rent a car when you arrive in Spain don't wait until the last minute to book it. We are already receiving reports that some makes and models of hire cars are completely booked out over the high season, so if you are coming to Spain over the next few months make sure you hire a car well in advance to ensure that you can get the vehicle you want.

Gary Ingram

Malaga to New York flights now operating

BmiBaby have now started their new route from Cardiff to Barcelona From 8th September they will operate from Manchester to Barcelona and Manchester to Madrid from 18th June.

Ryanair already have bases in the Spanish airports of Alicante, Girona, Madrid and Valencia and have just announced that they are to base two new aircraft at Reus Airport. So along with the current flights between Reus and Dublin, Frankfurt, Glasgow, Liverpool, London Luton and London Stansted they will operate a new route from Birmingham to Reus in June.

From October Ryanair will also fly between Reus and Palma, Paris, Santander, Santiago and Seville.

Ryanair have also just announced a new route between Malaga airport and Glasgow Prestwick in Scotland starting on October 27th with three flights a week. Ryanair are planning to sell the first tickets for the new Malaga Glasgow Prestwick route at €29.99 euros on their website.

ClickAir, the Spanish low cost airline, has started flying from London Gatwick to Bilbao on the north coast of Spain. This has replaced the Iberia London Heathrow to Bilbao route.

Starting on 5th July the Spanish charter airline LTE will operate weekly services from with the Norwich to Alicante, Norwich to Barcelona and Norwich to Palma. This means that the Alicante route back is now back in operation since Flybe ceased services.

LTE are an established charter airline who work with UK tour operators including Thomas Cook, Thomson and First Choice Holidays. Single fares will start at around £69 (including taxes and charges) and tickets are on sale now.

NEW:

Ryanair flights Shannon to Madrid are available twice every weekday Monday to Friday leaving London at 08:30 and 19:00 and arriving in Madrid at 12 noon and 22:30 respectively.

The return journey flights leave Spain at 06:30 (arrive 07:55) and 17:10 (arrive 18:35)

Ryanair flights from London Stansted to Madrid depart on Saturdays and Sundays with effect from 26th October 2008. The departure and arrival times are the same as the ones during the week.

For up to date timetables, fares and to book a flight online visit www.ryanair.com

CASTELLON AIRPORT - NEW

The government in Madrid has now given final approval for Murcia’s new airport at Corvera to go ahead. The project has been promoted by the regional government for many years as an alternative to the existing airport at San Javier which handles over two million (mainly British passengers) a year.  The regional government has already awarded the concession to construct and operate the new Corvera airport and all that was holding up works was the final approval from the Ministry of Development. .

The construction contract and 40 year management concession has gone to Aeromur SA, who are expected to start the two year project in the summer of 2008 to be completed by 2010.. The new airport will have an initial operating capacity of 1.5 million passengers, going up to 5.2 million in 2015 and then, in a second phase of construction, increasing to 8.7 million.

It has already been announced that budget airlines have expressed strong interest in Corvera and have been in discussions with the concession operator about their needs and plans for the future.  Flight operations are restricted at San Javier because of the need to share facilities with the military base nearby.   At Corvera civilian flights will be able to operate 24-hours a day.

The new airport will be directly linked to the several new motorways across Murcia and to the main A7 north-south motorway.  The Spanish Airport Authority AENA intends to continue operating the existing airport at San Javier and has invested heavily in constructing a second control tower and a second runway (which is completed but not yet in use). 

Currently the local land owners are having their land expropriated and this is expected to be concluded soon. There is no cash bonus for them and they are only being paid the value of their land as dry stony farmland.

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I have told Saskia who owns www.vistilo.com that we will include her in the next newsletter to spanish airprot guide and she has given 10% off to readers....I have written this....
 

For our Newsletter Readers 10% off Vistilo Travel, Baby & Laptop Bags
 
We have recently been in contact with Saskia who is the owner and founder of Vistilo Bags.  Saskia once worked in the City of London and then became a mother and could never find the perfect bag either for her laptop that wasnt the plain black style that said "Laptop" all over it, or a good baby bag with enough pockets and space but still looked great.  So mixed with her inspiration for art & her business brain,  she created her own bag and now runs www.vistilo.com.  The bags are made of very good quality fabrics with top quality leather, treated for rain and stains and are all made in Spain. They ship to the UK and have international sales points too.  She has offered 10% discount to our readers and you can get that by emailing her at info@vistilo.com or give her a call on 0034 696 231 973 once you know which bag you would like mentioning Spanish Airport Guide.
 

Why not spend the summer in our own 1 bedroom apartment! Its just 45 mins by car from Malaga and is the perfect place to recharge your batteries!

You are welcome to come and stay for as little as 3 days to as long as 3 months!

If you would like more information and photographs on the apartment then please click here!

www.lamaestranza.eu

We are still receiving a large number of requests for information on our message board, and ask that you give us as much as notice as possible if you need information on bus and train timetables in order to plan your journey as they can sometimes take some time to find.

And please carry on sending your travel tips or advice as we can pass them on to other travellers and include them in our monthly newsletter.