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BUDGET airline Ryanair is to launch seven new routes from Scotland.
Tickets went on sale yesterday for the new routes – which begin on March 30 – from Edinburgh to Carcassonne, Limoges and Poitiers in France, Leipzig (Altenburg) in Germany, Zadar in Croatia, and Malta and Rome.
There will also be more flights to Alicante in Spain and Dusseldorf-Weeze in Germany this spring.
Ryanair will also add two Boeing 737-800 planes to its Edinburgh base.
The airline said the changes would increase annual passenger numbers at Edinburgh Airport to almost two million, sustain 2000 jobs and bring almost £210million in tourism money to Edinburgh.
Airport managing director Gordon Dewar said the expansion was “great news for Scottish passengers”.
Filed under: airlines news, cheap flights, main | Tags: flights, news, travel
Etihad Airways will extend its reach into Europe with the launch of a new route to Athens, Greece, beginning in June.
The UAE’s national airline is pressing on with its expansion programme and Athens is the third confirmed new launch this year after Lagos, Nigeria, and Melboure, Australia.
James Hogan, the chief executive of Etihad, said the ancient city and its nearly 750,000 residents would be connected via the Etihad network to the Greek diaspora throughout the globe, which includes Australia. Greece also is a top holiday destination and Etihad expects to see bookings from the leisure segment on this route as well.
“We anticipate strong demand for flights to and from Athens which will help open up new commercial and cultural ties between the UAE and Greece,” he added.
Etihad will fly an Airbus A320 on the route three times a week, with 20 business class seats and 120 in economy class. Following the June launch, Etihad will increase frequencies to five times a week in October and daily from the beginning of 2010.
The route brings Etihad’s network into Europe to 12 destinations — a vital part of Etihad’s business in connecting Asia and the West via its Abu Dhabi hub. Etihad currently operates 50 flights throughout Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Africa and the Americas.
With the new flight Etihad will again take on its long-haul rivals, Emirates Airline and Qatar Airways, which already offer services from the Gulf to Athens.
Etihad’s two other confirmed routes, Lagos and Melbourne, are schedule for the first quarter of the year, while Shanghai has been mentioned as another potential launch, according to trade press reports.
Worst-hit was Heathrow where more than 130 in and outbound services were scrapped during the day.
Dozens of other flights were delayed as NATS, the air traffic control service, reduced the flow rate into Heathrow from more than 40 planes an hour to only 28. 
Elsewhere 60 flights were cancelled at City Airport in London’s Docklands. At Gatwick eight flights were scrapped.
Dozens more services were delayed and diverted as three of London’s airports struggled to cope with the fog, which descended as temperatures dropped. Only Stansted airport in Essex emerged unscathed.
Airlines hit by the fog included British Airways, easyJet and Bmi, with services to short-haul destinations being cancelled.
British Airways spokesman said that it had cancelled flights to airports where they operated frequently, meaning that passengers could be could be put onto other services.
A BAA spokesman used the fog delays to press the case for a third runway at Heathrow, insisting that the additional capacity would have minimised the misery suffered by passengers.
The Government’s announcement on Heathrow’s third runway is expected shortly, with a growing belief that the scheme will be approved by Geoff Hoon, the Transport Secretary, despite opposition from a number of Labour MPs and environmentalists.
