More air routes to open in spring serving eager Irish market

It's getting easier and cheaper to fly to destinations on the Continent and further afield all the time. Joan Scales reports on the newest routes

Barbados, Marseilles, Venice, Naples, Murcia, Valencia, Gran Canaria, Seville, Palma, Nice - these are just a few of the new routes from Ireland planned for the summer of 2005, with many routes beginning in the spring.

It's good news for holiday homeowners in Spain, the Canary Islands, France, Portugal, Italy, and the Caribbean, with a huge increase in schedule and chartered air services.

New and increased air schedules from Aer Lingus, Ryanair, Budgetair, Spanair, Eujet, Aer Arann, and BWIA will make the journey easier. Investors with properties to let will also see an upsurge in bookings from Ireland with the improvement in accessibility to favourite sunspots. The air market to Spain has been growing significantly in the past five years, driven by the huge numbers of people purchasing properties.

Initially tour operators such as Steintravel, providing extra seats on chartered flights, satisfied demand. But the increase in home ownership meant that many people with homes on the Costas found it difficult to get flights and were forced to travel via the UK, France and Belgium.

Aer Lingus entered the lucrative Malaga market in December 2001, on a trial basis. It seemed an extraordinary time to begin a new service. Their optimism paid off with full loads immediately. Aer Lingus's confidence in the Spanish market is now reflected in the dozens of flights to Spain every week, to seven different cities, many from both Dublin and Cork.

You can now get to Malaga from virtually every airport - Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Knock, Kerry, Belfast and Derry - in Ireland between schedule and chartered services. Ryanair entered the Spanish market in 2003 and now has routes from Dublin to Malaga, Reus, Murcia and Girona/Barcelona, and Shannon to Girona/Barcelona. They will also be operating flights to Milan, Dusseldorf, Hamburg and Stockholm, from Shannon.

Cityjet/Air France, forerunner of scheduled services to Malaga, has carved a niche market with a loyal band of mainly business travellers. Last year it launched a specific website for Costa Del Sol traffic, www.cityjet.ie. Steintravel also operates a scheduled service with the Spanish carrier Spanair from Dublin and Cork, with chartered services from Knock.

Budget Travel set up a scheduled carrier last year, Budgetair, which is now operating on the busy routes of Malaga and Alicante. New airline Eujet will also be operating services from Shannon to Malaga and Murcia this year.

Iberia continues to operate services to Madrid and Barcelona only, but with good connections all over Spain. Homeowners in the Canary Islands had found it very difficult and expensive to get there but now can fly Aer Lingus to Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Tenerife.

All the tour operators have increased the availability of seat-only too. Direct Holidays has seen demand from Dublin for seats only building steadily over the last three years, on average a growth of 10 per cent each year. "Mainland Spain is the most popular destination of the routes we offer, says Suzanne Leak of Direct Holidays, "and accounted for 30 per cent of our entire programme from Dublin."

When it comes to France, again Aer Lingus is leading the increase in services with routes to Paris, Nice, Toulouse, Lyon and Marseilles. Air France operates to Paris and Bordeaux. Aer Arann operated a weekly flight last year from Galway via Waterford to Lorient in Brittany and there are whispers of services to Nantes and Lille for this year from Cork. Ryanair has the most extensive network to France from the UK with 14 routes at present.

Portugal will also see strong growth this year with direct services to the Algarve with Aer Lingus, Ryanair, Budgetair, EUjet, and a variety of tour operators increasing seats.

Italy will also be more accessible with Aer Lingus routes to Rome, Milan, Bergamo, Bologna, Venice and Naples. Ryanair also has anextensive network to Italy, with at least 14 routes via the UK.

New destinations with improved services include Cyprus, where Helios Airlines has been providing scheduled services for the past three years. The entry of a number of tour operators to Cyprus in the winter increases the possibility of using your property there.

If your desire is a holiday home in the Caribbean, then British West Indies Airlines will be operating from Belfast to Barbados and Trinidad from July and Bmi has also begun services from Manchester to Antigua and Barbados.

Newer countries where property ownership is rising, such as Croatia and Bulgaria, are not yet well served with air routes. Trying to get to a property in Croatia over the winter is a costly and time-consuming effort.

Aer Lingus will continue the route to Dubrovnik again this summer. Other airlines to try are Germanwings, with a large hub in Cologne with daily flights from Dublin, and the carriers of central and Eastern Europe such as Malev, CSA Czech Airlines and Lot Polish Airlines.

The rental market has seen big increases in recent years and rental specialists Escapesoverseas.com says easier access has increased business. "Certainly Aer Lingus turned the market on its head," says Mary McGovern.

"Now people can choose to rent property from three days to three weeks; gone are the days of being locked into weekly flights at high prices." Unless you book early you will pay dearly for high season flights: Christmas, Easter and mid-term breaks are premium fares. The selection of flights and operators now means that cheaper fares are available, but book early. Fares in low season have dropped to as little as €50 return to Malaga, but climb to over €400 in high season.

The Internet has revolutionised how we book, and it is a good idea to put yourself on the mailing lists of various airlines. Aer Lingus, Ryanair, and Germanwings often have short-term sales that are not advertised and you can pick up some great bargains. Overall, the increase in seats to popular destinations has been welcomed by homeowners and investors and is proving that access expands the market.