Price War on European Flights
Holiday price war on way with the `big six' budget airlines
An airline ticket price war is on the way to the north west and there is only one winner - the holidaymakers.
Millions of extra seats will be available during the summer as no-frills carriers begin new routes.
The main battleground is Spain, with six cut-price carriers serving Malaga alone.
Ryanair, the Dublin-based airline run by Michael O'Leary, unveiled nine new routes from Liverpool John Lennon Airport on Monday.
It will fly to Barcelona (Reus), Granada (50 miles from Malaga) and Murcia Airport in Spain, Pisa and Venice in Italy, Nimes and Limoges in France, and Cork and Shannon in Ireland.
Ryanair (from £25.98 return to Granada, including taxes) will pit itself against great rival easyJet (£40.98), which also flies to Malaga, and four other cut-price carriers at Manchester Airport - Jet2.com (£62), which is launching ten new routes from Manchester, British Airways (£79), with five new routes, bmibaby (£65.38) and Monarch Scheduled (£78) who also fly Manchester to Malaga.
Tim Jeans, new managing director of Monarch Scheduled, owned by a wealthy Italian family and with Manchester as its biggest base, said: "It's going to be a bonanza for the passengers.
"We are going to see lower fares than ever before. And these are solid airlines, so people can book with confidence because they are not going to go under."
John Morgan, commercial director of GB Airways, the BA franchise partner which has launched routes to Malaga, Tenerife Airport, Funchal, Paphos and Malta, said: "Our service will give the market a real choice.
"We're looking forward to starting the Manchester services, where forward bookings indicate they will be a roaring success."
All the fares quoted in brackets are published lead-in fares, which can typically be booked well in advance of flying and for unpopular flying times
Full Article - Manchester Online-27th November 2004
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