Monday, November 30, 2015

Cheap flights to Paris - Terrorist fears decrease Paris flights and hotels

Terrorist news from Paris are reflected in number of tourists visiting Paris this winter season. At the moment it seems that there is flight and hotel capacity available at bargain prices. At the moment you can book really cheap flights from several European cities to Paris for next winter season 2015/2016. Here are some examples of the ticket prices from selected European cities:
  • Spain Zaragoza - Paris cheap flights starting from 15€, Ryanair
  • Barcelona - Paris cheap flights starting from 20€ Ryanair
  • Debrecen (Hungary) - Paris cheap flights starting from 17€, Wizzair
  • Poland: Wizzair flies from almost every city of Poland to Paris for less than 20€. There are cheap tickets from Katowice, Gdansk, Krakow, Poznan, Warsaw and Wroclaw.
  • Milan Bargamo - Paris cheap flights are 19-20€ from both Wizzair and Ryanair
  • Stockholm (Sweden) - Paris cheap flights (19€), Ryanair
  • Brussels Charleroi - Paris cheap flights starting from 20€, Ryanair
  • Ireland (Dublin and Shannon) cheap flights to Paris starting from 20€, Ryanair
  • UK, Ryanair flies from several cities cheap flights to Paris. There are 20€ flights from East Midlands, Liverpool, London Stansted and London Luton.
  • Macedonia Ohrid - Paris cheap flights starging from 21€ at wizzair.com
  • If we go to price range 21-30€ there are cheap flights to Paris from Greece, Malta, the Netherlands, Bosnia Hertzegovina, Marocco, Latvia and Romania
If you believe that the lightning never strikes the same place twice and are not afraid of new terrorist attacks in Paris, you have excellent chances finding exceptionally cheap flights to Paris this winter season. I'm not saying that everyone should rush to Paris but if you are willing to accept the risk you can have nice Holiday in the city that is normally overcrowded by tourists. I haven't decided whether I will take to opportunity to fly cheap flights to Paris but I'm seriously thinking about it. Some years ago just after some turbulence in Egypt I had excellen hotel by the Red Sea. It was half empty five star hotel at hostel price and almost private pools for us.

Friday, November 27, 2015

Low fair airline news summary - Trends in the low cost carrier industry

Many things have happened in the low cost airline business and I think it's time for good summary about some major trends and changes in the industry.

Long distance low cost flights - Norwegian is in the business and Ryanair planning it
Cheap Airlines have traditionally their major cost advantage in short routes where optimizing the capasity and personnel costs are more significant. In the long distance flights there hasn't been similar cost advanteges because fuel costs play important role and Ryanair and Wizzair have very limited possibilities to get cheaper fuel than any other airline company. However new less fuel consuming airplanes have made this long distance market more interesting for low cost carriers and Norwegian Air Shuttle have already started their long distance flights. They are using Boeing 787 Dreamliner for their continental flights. Norwegian flies from Nordic capitals (Stockholm, Oslo and Copenhagen) to New York, Florida, Los Angeles and Bangkok. In addition to this they have some continental routes to the US from London Gatwick Airport. Ryanair has published some mixed views about their possible long distance flights but they are definitely seriously considering the opportunity.

Copenhagen intense competition thanks to Ryanair
If you look at the European map it's easy to understand why Copenhagen is so important airport between Northern and Central Europe. Ryanair opened 17 direct routes from Copenhagen and that made competition between Ryanair, Easyjet and Norwegian very intense in Denmark. If you look at the Skyscanner you can find more than 10 cities where you can now fly one way flight with less than 20€ from Copenhagen. If Wizzair opens flights to Copenhagen it's possible that Copenhagen becomes similar low fares hub as Brussels Charleroi, Milan Bergamo and London airports. More information about Ryanair routes from Copenhagen can be found here: Ryanair cheap flights from Copenhagen.

Cabin baggage fees have not become popular - Ryanair is not following Wizzair example
Wizzair launched some times ago policy of two sizes hand luggage. Small Cabin Bag, that fits below the seat in front of you (Free cabin bag) and Large Cabin bag that is approximately same size as normal cabin baggage on other airlines (Cabin baggage fee). I assumed that if this seems to work Ryanair would follow the example but they haven't so I assume that they have come to a conclusion that it's not generating them more profits than current fees.