New flights leaving up to twice daily from London Stansted to both Manchester and Glasgow will begin on December 16 courtesy of a surprising source: Air Berlin.
The German airline is not the first carrier that springs to most passengers' minds when booking UK domestic flights and this is good news for cost-conscious UK travellers. Most services over the coming weeks and months (excluding some dates over the festive period) are still priced at £19 one way or £38 return. Not only are these prices cheaper than many rail fares, they also undercut rival carriers which ply these two routes from Stansted: Easyjet, Ryanair and Eastern Airlines.
The new flights are timed for London travellers planning a day trip and will enable passengers starting from Manchester and Glasgow to connect at Stansted (Air Berlin provides through-checking) for the carrier's destinations in Germany and Austria.
Air Berlin is also expanding its services between Stansted and Germany. From December 16, flights to the east German city of Leipzig move from four to six a week with more consistent timings. Weekday flights now depart Stansted at 2020 with the inbound service from Leipzig leaving at 0610. Air Berlin offers the only direct link between the UK and Leipzig's main airport.
Flights to Hanover are being upgraded with a twice daily frequency and better timings (these allow a full working day in either Hanover or London) from March 3. The new schedules coincide with Hanover's CeBit computer fair taking place between March 9 and 15.
Other destinations served by Air Berlin from Stansted are Berlin Tegel, Dusseldorf, Munster, Nuremberg, Paderborn and Vienna. Visit www.airberlin.com.
Report by Alex McWhirter
