The most popular budget airline routes this summer

In my last post, I talked about the latest holiday destination trends being experienced by some of the largest European travel agents. Many operators have experienced a surge in popularity for Turkish holiday destinations such as Bodrum and Dalaman, with the country tipped to be the most popular destination in 2010.

While Turkey has seen an increase in popularity, Spanish destinations are still ever present at the top of many of the budget airlines popularity lists. Spain has long been a favourite of the British holidaymaker ever since the emergence of the package holiday. An array of diverse resorts, excellent climate, good food, sandy beaches and proximity to the UK have all helped contribute to Spain's popularity as a holiday destination. Aside from the typical beach resort, Spain has plenty offer in the way of city destinations. Barcelona is truly a city of culture and an excellent place to go for a short city break or longer family holiday. In fact, Barcelona saw more budget airline bookings than any other destination in June according to Low Cost Airline Guide - a site I recently used when booking my summer holidays, that searches all budget airlines to provide a comprehensive guide showing all available routes and flights in one simple search.

Alicante on the Costa Blanca and Malaga on the Costa Del Sol, are the other Spanish holiday destinations included in the five most popular June bookings on this site - these two locations have long been summer holiday mainstays for us Brits - with towns like Benidorm, Marbella and Alicante itself proving popular. Most budget airlines offer routes to Alicante and Malaga from a variety of UK airports.
Paris is another of the most popular budget destinations this June - with many of us looking to save money, the short flight to the city of romance is an attractive one and this is complemented by cheap flights and package deals to Paris.

The credit crunch has led many of us to tighten our purse strings over the last couple of years, and it is certainly worth searching around for the best deal on budget flights. No matter where you may be heading this summer, I recommend Low Cost Airline Guide to keep up to date with available budget airline routes - I saved time and money with my recent booking to The Algarve in Portugal.

Best Holiday Destinations - Trends & Stats

I have mentioned several times in my previous posts how Turkey is fast becoming the holiday destination of choice for us Brits. The decline in the economy, high unemployment, and weak Euro have all combined to cause low disposable income for a huge number of British families. This has meant people looking at cheaper alternatives to their regular holidays.
Recent stats from Co-op Travel show Turkey holidays have grown the most in the last year, with Dalaman seeing an 82% increase in bookings in 2010 compared to the same period last year. Bodrum, also in Turkey, as well as Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt, Crete in Greece and Larnaka in Cyprus all popular choices for 2010. In terms of overall popularity, Co-op list:
1) Turkey
2) Majorca
3) Orlando
as their top three holiday destinations.

Travel Supermarket list a slightly different top 3:
1) Turkey
2) Egypt
3) Spain
The common theme here of course being that Turkey leads the way in both lists. The "voucher culture" that has arisen over the last year or so has led to a huge rise in people finding 'deals' for their holidays, which Turkey package holiday suppliers have been able to offer and capitalise upon.
It seems these trends are set to continue at least for the next year or so, with holidaymakers looking to save money where possible while the economy struggles to recover.


Turkey - soaring in popularity

Heathrow's third runway plans cancelled

Heathrow's proposed plans for a third runway have been cancelled by the new Conservative-Lib-Dem government. The plans were originally put in place by Gordon Brown and Labour, with a third runway allowing for 600,000 additional flights every year. This would have brought in billions of pounds from abroad to help the economy, however the new Government want to focus more on domestic public transport, with proposals for a new high speed railway to link London and Edinburgh, as well as better transport links to Heathrow itself.

Councils, residents and green campaigners are delighted at the news. The additional flights would have had significant implications in terms of noise pollution for local residents, while the environmental damage has led to many a protest. Proposed plans for new runways at Stansted and Gatwick have also been scrapped.

Heathrow is already one of the busiest airports in the world, helping link the UK with some of the best holiday destinations in the World. Approximately 67 million visitors use Heathrow airport yearly. There is obviously huge demand for Heathrow airport parking and plans for expanding these facilities had been included in the 3rd runway proposal.

London still has exceptional links to the rest of the world, and for travelling to your favourite holiday destinations in Europe, America etc, the number of major airports in and around London is second to none.

Best Holiday Destinations - World Cup 2010, South Africa

The World Cup is rapidly approaching, and there's still just enough time to get your flights sorted to South Africa so you can be in on the action. It's been 6 years since we were last involved in a major tournament and the expectation in South Africa is as high as ever. The atmosphere in the country is going to be absolutely electric so if you have the oppurtunity to visit the country while the tournament is on you should be in for a treat.

The tournament for England kicks off on the 12th June in Rustenberg, where we play USA in the opening game. Situated about 50 miles west of Pretoria and Johannesberg - you could potentially stay in either of these cities and get a bus or train to Rustenberg - either way we recommend booking your hotel as soon as you book flights to ensure you have somewhere to stay when you get there.

Our next game, on 18th June, is in Cape Town at the Green Point Stadium. Being an excellent holiday destination outright, with a great deal to see and do aside the game, Cape Town is going to be the most popular city with tourists flocking to the World Cup.


Cape Town, South Africa

Port Elizabeth hosts the final group game versus Slovenia on 23rd June. Hopefully we should be through to the last 16 by that point however knowing England we may have to win here to progress.

Assuming we top the group, our next two games will take place at Rustenberg, and then Johannesberg, which are fairly close together. Therefore one option is to spend a week in Rustenberg before moving to Johannesberg for the possible quarter final. Even if you can't get tickets for the games, watching the games in the numerous bars will be a great experience. And the breweries are ready for us - millions of extra pints have been brewed to ensure noone goes thirsty.

There are some worries about safety in some areas- however like all cities as long as yoou're careful and don't stray too far from the city centres you should be fine - a bit of common sense won't go amiss, to ensure your holiday passes without any drama.

Many areas of South Africa are already top holiday destinations - so coupled with the atmosphere of the World Cup, a trip here in June or July should be a once in a lifetime experience.