Something to declare: Bargain of the week - The Ruhr and the Rhine, from Stansted
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Your support makes all the difference.Bargain of the week: the Ruhr and the Rhine, from Stansted
Time to get that atlas out again. Several more destinations are to join the long list of places that you didn't know you wanted to visit, but to which you can fly from Stansted. Air Berlin (0870 738 8880, www.airberlin.com) is moving into Britain, opening up the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with the catchy slogan "Enjoy German hospitality (yes, it really exists)". On 30 September, Air Berlin starts flying from the Essex airport to Paderborn, Münster and Dortmund. It will also fly to Tegel airport in Berlin, competing with Buzz, which flies Stansted-Berlin Schönefeld.
Fares to all Air Berlin destinations start at £9 each way. Test bookings made for the first weekend of October, going out to Germany on Friday, 4 October, returning two days later, revealed fares to each airport of €98 (£65) return, including drinks and food. For an extra €8 (£5.50) each way, you can reserve a specific seat.
The airline is launching a service to Düsseldorf, again in competition with Buzz, on 18 October. On the same day it starts flying to Nuremberg, which does not currently have direct services from the UK. Flights to Hamburg begin on 1 November; the latter is bound to provoke a response from Ryanair, which flies from Stansted to Lübeck, 40 miles away, which it describes as "Hamburg".
Yet another new airline launches a link to the Rhine on 27 October. Germanwings (020-8321 7255, www.germanwings.com), part-owned by Lufthansa, offers three flights a day from Stansted to Cologne-Bonn airport. A fare of £45 return is widely available.
Meanwhile, Ryanair (0871 246 0000, www.ryanair.com) starts twice-daily flights from the Essex airport to Strasbourg on 31 October. This Hallowe'en event is likely to spook Air France, which currently has a monopoly on the route from London to the French city on the Rhine.
Ryanair's "never knowingly undersold" policy applies. But prices are set much higher than its normal rates – typically £163 return. Strangely, you can reduce this fare by about £20 if you buy separate one-way flights; journeys starting in Strasbourg are 25 per cent cheaper than those originating at Stansted.
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