Gripe of the week

Why no direct flights to central Europe?

One irate reader writes: "I've been travelling regularly to Eastern Europe on business since January, mainly to Prague, Budapest and Warsaw. Although Aer Lingus and British Midland offer a connecting service to Prague, I've heard of no plans for any direct flights. It's a massive overhead in time, cost and inconvenience to connect through Heathrow, Frankfurt, etc.

"I'm sure there must be quite a few businessmen in a similar position now and giving a lot of revenue to other airlines! I'm particularly surprised that they couldn't fill planes during the summer to locations like Prague, which is one of Europe's most popular tourist attractions, and Budapest will not be far behind."