The new no-frills kids on the block
Simon Calder gives you the lowdown on all the latest budget airlines and their new destinations
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Your support makes all the difference.Britain's regional airports may need to invest in new destination boards. Europe's budget airlines this week launched a squadron of new cheap flights from and within Britain. No longer is all the growth concentrated in south-east England; the Midlands, South Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are the main beneficiaries of this winter's programme. Next year, the north-east and the south coast are set for a budget boost.
The UK and Ireland are way ahead of the rest of Europe in the development of no-frills aviation, but the Germans are hitting back; two new airlines, both based in Cologne, start up this winter and fly to London, while Air Berlin offered two new destinations from Stansted yesterday, and a third, to Hanover, is on the way.
This guide will help you to set a course through the increasingly complex air map of Britain. All the routes mentioned have begun in the past week, or are due to start later this winter. Each has a "lead-in" fare as low as £10 each way, but ticket prices at popular times – on Fridays, Sundays and Monday mornings – are likely to be much higher. Surcharges are payable if you book by telephone, instead of the internet, or use a credit card rather than a debit card.
The Airlines
Air Berlin: a low-cost, with-frills airline based in Berlin (0870 73 88880; www.airberlin.de)
Bmibaby: no-frills subsidiary of BMI, the airline formerly known as British Midland (0870 264 2229; www.bmibaby.com)
Buzz: no-frills subsidiary of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, and which yesterday was detached from its former parent, KLM UK (0870 240 7070; www.buzzaway.com)
easyJet: Europe's first pure no-frills airline (0870 600 0000; www.easyJet.com)
Germanwings: no-frills operation based in Cologne, partly owned by Lufthansa (020-8321 7255; www.germanwings.com)
Go: no-frills start up from British Airways, now owned by, and bookable with, easyJet
Hapag-Lloyd Express: no-frills operation based in Cologne, owned by Europe's biggest holiday company, TUI, which also owns Thomson and Britannia Airways (0870 606 0519; www.hlx.com)
MyTravelLite: no-frills subsidiary of MyTravel Airways, formerly Airtours International (08701 564 564; www.mytravellite.com)
Ryanair: Dublin-based airline that takes pride in undercutting everyone else in the market (0871 246 0000; www.ryanair.com)
The airports and the destinations
Belfast (International)
New destinations: Birmingham (MyTravelLite); Cardiff (Bmibaby).
Birmingham
New destinations: Alicante, Belfast, Geneva (all MyTravelLite).
Bournemouth
New destinations: Buzz has announced plans to establish a base in the Dorset city next March. No routes have been revealed, but given the airline's existing route structure, Amsterdam, Paris and either Toulouse or Bordeaux look like good bets.
Bristol
New destination: Venice (Go).
Cardiff
New destinations: Alicante, Belfast, Edinburgh, Faro, Glasgow, Jersey, Malaga (all Bmibaby).
East Midlands
New destinations: Alicante (Bmibaby); Barcelona (Go); Geneva (Bmibaby and easyJet); Malaga (Bmibaby); Milan Bergamo (Bmibaby); Venice (Go). In addition, BMI flights to Amsterdam, Brussels, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Jersey and Paris have been transferred to Bmibaby. New Bmibaby routes due to start in December include Cork, Toulouse and Salzburg.
Edinburgh
New destination: Cardiff (Bmibaby).
Glasgow
New destination: Cardiff (Bmibaby).
Luton
New destinations: Cologne (Hapag-Lloyd Express, from 11 December); Milan Bergamo (Ryanair, from 6 February).
Newcastle
New destinations: easyJet has announced it will establish a base at the city's airport in April, but has not revealed any destinations. Choose three from Amsterdam, Barcelona, Belfast, Bristol, Geneva, Nice and Palma.
Stansted
New destinations: Cologne (Germanwings); Gerona (Ryanair, from 20 February); Hamburg (Air Berlin); Hanover (Air Berlin from 22 November); Strasbourg (Ryanair).
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