Travel News Monkey

At present there are 45 budget carriers catering to the need for no-frill and cheap travel in Europe. Given below is some information on the big players in the European budget airline sector.

Ryanair

The top dog in the field for quite sometime; but may have competitors catching up especially since it has been charging $6 for every item of baggage checked, you also have to pay for snacks and drinks onboard and there are no seats assigned. Ryanair lets you reach places located away from the primary airports since it serves secondary airports that are some distance away from the main city. It covers a wide range of destinations in Europe and Northern Africa.

easyJet

Easyjet is the nearest rival of Ryanair. It covers 65 destinations in Europe. It services southern Europe from its hub in Madrid. Easyjet connects cities in Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North Africa, and Turkey. You can check up to 20 kg for free and those who check in early get the window seats. But you still have to pay for in-flight snacks and drinks.

Aer Lingus

Aer Lingus jumped on the budget airline bandwagon in 2004 to match steps with Ireland-based Ryanair. The airline will not be a part of the oneworld alliance from April 1 and may enter into a ticket-booking agreement with JetBlue. Aer Lingus operates from Dublin and Cork in the UK.

Virgin Express

Brussels Airlines has been born from a union of Virgin Express and SN Brussels and will become operational from late March. Fliers will be able to choose from two fare categories for travel within Europe. The fares will start at EUR49. Read more.

Eurocamp, which has made a name for itself as a provider of camping holidays, is promoting environmentally responsible tourism through its sites carbontrust.co.uk and co2balance.com. Tourists can now take advantage of the excellent network of public transport that links Europe and travel in a stress-free manner. The company hopes to offset carbon emissions in this manner.

From March 5, 2007 customers of Creative Holidays will be able to choose from an increased number of options, to be precise six new destinations in the UK and Europe, more sightseeing options, and 100 new hotels to select from. Agents who are looking to develop an ideal holiday package for their clients now have more flexibility in terms of hotels and holiday options to offer to those wishing to see Europe. The revamped destination portfolio offered by the company will include destinations such as Croatia, Poland, and the Czech Republic in Eastern Europe and also Portugal and Spain. Read more.

In a move to preempt competition from foreign airlines, Aerosvit, which is a leading Ukrainian airline, has announced a tie-up with Donbassaero. Donbassaero is a smaller airline that is based in Donetsk. The tie-up is intended to increase passenger traffic and profitability of the two companies. The two companies will pool in $5 million to boost the alliance. There will be joint ticket sales and combined marketing operations. The agreements pertaining to the alliance will be in effect till 2017. Read more.

Arkia Israel Airlines will carry Israeli passengers to Turkey and Cyprus after El Al Israel Airlines has stated that from March 1 it will not be operating flights to Turkey and Cyprus. Arkia is the second largest airline in Israel and operates mainly charter flights to Western Europe. El Al said that the flights to Turkey and Cyprus were not in sync with their new business restructuring policy and they intended to focus on high-profit routes.

Japan Airlines (JAL) has announced that it will initiate new flights between Japan and destinations in Europe. There will be three charter flights between Japan and Croatia, from Narita to Zagreb, between August and September.

Other destinations to be covered by JAL include Hungary, Czech Republic, Switzerland, and Italy. Japanese cities of Narita, Osaka, Nagoya, and Fukoku will be linked by charter flights with the cities of Budapest and Prague from July till October.

An excellent write-up by Mark Thomas on what the invasion by budget airlines will mean for Bulgaria. According to the author, the general perception is that low-cost flyers will open up Europe for the Bulgarians; but he contends that there are many hidden costs such as cost of baggage, credit card fees, and assorted taxes that are being played down by the advertisers.

Mark says that it is not low-cost carriers per se that will lead to cheaper flights but the competition that they engender. He feels that the lines between traditional and budget flyers have blurred and there is no hard and fast rule that only budget carriers offer the lowest rates. A country that is doing very well on the tourism front would want to provide easy access to travelers and to that extent it will not really bother whether the service providers are new comers or established names in the airline industry.

If you’re planning to fly to Europe from Africa, give Brussels Airlines a try. The airline is offering privilege miles to passengers from Africa before the month of June 2007. The deal is an excellent one and offers several privileges, go here to learn more.