As British Airways retreats from the regions, the budget carriers are stepping in. A prime example is Jet2 which is opening eight new routes from Manchester over the coming months in addition to the ones it currently operates.
Some of these routes are still being plied by BA's value for money subsidiary BA Connect. But for how much longer is anyone's guess since BA Connect is about to be taken over by budget carrier Flybe.
Yorkshire-based Jet2 already covers five business destinations from Manchester (namely Amsterdam, Budapest, London Gatwick, Rome and Valencia), but last Monday (January 22) saw it add a daily service to Milan Bergamo and Geneva.
These will be followed by services to:
• Prague operated several times a week from March 1 increasing to daily by the summer.
• Flights to Paris CDG (once daily) and Barcelona (one daily) and Berlin Schonefeld (four times a week initially then daily by the summer) starting March 25.
• A five times a week link to Toulouse from April 16.
• Venice to be flown four times a week from May 19.
For more information go to jet2.com.
Report by Alex McWhirter
