Something To Declare: Zeppelin country and beyond
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Your support makes all the difference.Destination of the week: be led to Zeppelin country and beyond
The Zeppelin was designed and built in the southern German town of Friedrichshafen, on the northern shore of Lake Constance and handy for Liechtenstein. From 4 April, Friedrichshafen becomes another unlikely destination from Stansted aboard Ryanair (08701 569 569, www.ryanair.com), along with Bergamo in Italy, Eindhoven in Holland, Montpellier in France and Graz in Austria. The airline also begins flights from Prestwick, near Glasgow, to Torp, quite near Oslo.
Eastern Europe is opening up, too. On 22 March, BMIbaby (0870 264 2229, www.bmibaby.com) begins a thrice-weekly flight from East Midlands to Prague. Go (0870 60 76543, www.go-fly.com) starts daily flights on the same route on 31 March. The same aircraft will operate flights between Bristol and the Czech capital; book by next Friday for a £59 return. On 27 June, Ryanair begins flights from Stansted to Klagenfurt in Austria, 20 miles from the Slovenian border and 50 miles from the capital, Ljubljana.
Birmingham gets its connection with Chicago back on 2 April, when American Airlines (08457 789 789, www.aa.com) reinstates the service that was cut last October. Yesterday the airline could not confirm that the service will be reinstated year-round.
Warning of the week: surf's up – £30 up Newquay gets connected to Stansted from 4 April. Fares for the one-hour hop on Ryanair to Cornwall's surfing capital start as low as £79 return, but it will cost £30 return to take your board on board. "Rent one when you get there," suggests the airline's chief executive, Michael O'Leary. Expect cheap rail fares from First Great Western in response to the new link.
Bargain of the week: fares war to Rome
The route between London and the Italian capital hots up from 4 April, when Ryanair starts flying from Stansted to Ciampino airport, the same route currently operated by Go. On test bookings made yesterday for April, the lowest fare was £37.30 return on Go – beating Ryanair by fourpence. Alitalia and BA may also cut fares from Heathrow and Gatwick.
Simon Calder
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