Just received this information from Cheapflights.co.uk that they are offering return flight from Liverpool to Almeriá from £79 from the 2nd January 2009 through 31st October 2009.

This would be great news for Sands and her mother.

bmibaby has announced four new routes from East Midlands Airport to Almeria, Manchester to Toulouse, Manchester to Amsterdam and Cardiff to Lisbon.

All summer 2009 flights are now available from bmibaby with some great savings if you book before November 17th!

The low cost airline is offering flights to a number of European destinations from just £18.99 one way, including taxes and charges.

Ryanair have posted a 47% drop in profits for the half year.

The budget airline says it will make a loss over the next six months after forecasting a drop in average fares of between 15% and 20%

They remain confident that they will break even over the full year as the recent fuel price reductions take effect.

I have just been updating the Almerimar Life Flights page which to be honest was pretty depressing with the lack of flight options for people from the UK and Ireland at the moment. We have Sands mum arriving next week (November 5th) but as she will no doubt be using her broom the lack of flights wont bother her, and my parents are here for Christmas (flying out of Manchester which is one of the few options still available).

Despite previously bullish statement Ryanair have just announced more bad news:

Budget airline Ryanair has confirmed it will close its base at Valencia airport, with all flights leaving the city being cancelled from 4th November. The move comes after a dispute with Valencia’s regional government, which refused to negotiate the allocation of marketing funds to promote the airport and its routes across Ryanair’s network in Europe despite recently granting local airline Air Nostrum 12 million euros for the same purpose.

Just read on easier.com that bmibaby will be flying from East Midlands to Almeria in the summer of 2009.

More news as and when I know

Will be flying to Dublin on Saturday with Ryaniar, and back to Almeria on Tuesday with them. Wondering if that is a good idea, as bad news tends to come in three’s!!!!

A Ryanair plane was forced to land in Germany after a passenger had an allergic reaction to mushroom soup.

The soup leaked onto the man from a jar in an overhead locker on a flight from Budapest to Dublin on Monday, the airline said.

Just had an email from Monarch encouraging me to book already for Summer 2009! Thought I’d just check out the Birmingham situation as those flights from Almeria are about to stop. The good news is that they will be back from March for the Summer. I visit family in the north and like to fly into Manchester but out of Birmingham as the latter flight leaves the UK at 14:45 which is much more civilised the the Manchester one at 0700!

I am off to the UK today for a meeting. I will be catching the 1015 flight out of Almeria that gets into Gatwick at 1200. I have a meeting in the Sofitel hotel, and will stay there over night before catching the 0555 flight back, which gets me into Almeria at 0925.

I wont really have too much time to spare but if you are on either of the flights, staying at the Sofitel, or around Gatwick then maybe we will bump into each other and be able to grab a coffee or something.

18 hours in the UK is just about enough in my book!!!!

Iberia, who are looking to merge with BA has just posted a 6 month loss of 32.3€m for the first half of the year, blaming increasing fuel costs and falling demand for the loss. The new Madrid-Barcelona high speed rail link also got some of the blame.

More signs of the pressure on the flight industry as it looks like BA and Iberia may be merging:

British Airways and Spain’s Iberia are holding talks on a possible merger, the two airlines have said. The firms said the British Airways and Iberia brands would be retained as part of a combined group under the plans.

All about cost cutting ………..

Two routes – to Valencia and Almeria – will be stopped entirely, with operations instead moving to Gatwick.

That is the depressing news in the Telegraph today!!! Overall they are cutting 12% of their capacity, as they announce a probably drop of 45% in pre tax profits.

EasyJet’s director of communications, Toby Nicol, said rising fuel costs were “99 per cent” to blame for the cuts, citing high charges at Stansted as a secondary factor.

More negative press for Almeria Flights!

“Many airlines which presently use Almeria Airport are progressively reducing the number of destinations they have on offer, mainly due to competition from low-cost operators. One example, British Airways, have had to cease flights to London, unable to compete with easyJet’s prices. Other companies which reduced the number of flights to certain destinations during the quieter winter months are now considering whether it is worth their while restarting the routes.

Not a surprise that following my previous post re. the EasyJet sale, Monarch are getting in on the act! They too are offering discounts to anyone booking a flight by Tuesday June 10th. SO to escape the rain and fly to Almeria from Birmingham, Manchester or Luton, have a look at their prices.

Book by midnight on Tuesday June 10th and get 20% off all flights between June 16th and July 17th! AND they are clearly stating on their web site that they add no fuel surcharges.

This may be a good time for a trip home or for anyone not enjoying the rain in the Uk a trip out here to very sunny Almerimar. EasyJet as I’m sure you know fly from Gatwick and Stanstead to Almeria.

Heard last night that come October (ish) Monarch are going to be stopping flying from Birmingham to Almería. I haven’t been able to verify this online yet, but I heard from an estate agent friend who I think had received a ‘trade’ email earlier in the day.

If true this is not good news either personally as Sands and I use Birmingham from time to time (I use it to get to Dubai), and my parents and Sands Mum have been known to use it from time to time, although we can all use Manchester easily enough.

It was interesting to hear the CEO of Ryan Air saying on the TV this morning that they were guaranteeing not to pass on any fuel surcharges to their customers in the next 12 months and that they thought that would reduce this years 420m€ profit to zero next year.

It reminded me as well that I cam across this new route from easyJet the other day that I had meant to post!!!

Ah the wonders of technology!!! Am currently sat in the departure lounge at Birmingham waiting to board. Have been showing the site to a load of people that wondered what I was doing and have run out of business cards!!!

Not sure if that is cool, obsessive, sad, creative or just the way I am!!!

Anyway got to board now, last again!!!!!! Can’t wait to be home!!!!!

Just spotted another Monarch Sale. I might even get tempted by this one as there is a school reunion in October. Apparently Monarch are 40 years old! Check out flights between Almeria and Manchester, Birmingham and Luton via their website.

It’s our birthday but we have a present for you! As most of you will know, we are celebrating a major milestone this year - yes, monarch is 40 years young! Read our special anniversary folder below for a blast from the past! Our official anniversary is this Saturday but we just couldn’t wait to give you a present from us…!

Anyone who has listened to the news in the last few days cannot have failed to miss the woes of Heathrow terminal 5. Whilst I don’t buy into how this has affected the UK’s image and standing with the rest of the world! I do think it is all rather embarassing, and it does make you wonder who was checking the new systems prior to the grand opening. However when it comes to people and training I do have some sympathy, from past experience. I was once project managing the switch over to a new system at a small independent travel agency, and noone on the ticketing side thought it relevant to mention that they couldn’t understand the new printouts for travel vouchers. Minor chaos ensued and a number of irate phone-calls. However I was one very overworked harassed person; it does seem hard to imagine how an organisation the size of BA could get it SO wrong. I was further amused to read the first of I’m sure a number of articles entilted How to avoid Heathrow terminal 5. Travellers to Spain will be relieved to know that flights to Barcelona and Madrid will continue to go out of Terminal 1. This is also a relief for anyone thinking of getting to Almerimar with BA via one of those cities!