Cheap USA Flights
Will You Soon Be Finding the Cheapest Ever Transatlantic Flights?
As budget airline Zoom announces cut-price flights between London and New York, the low-cost Irish airline Ryanair says it may also start no-frills cheap USA flights
According to Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary, the budget airline might soon set up a new operation to offer travellers low-cost flights between the USA and Europe. Cut-price tickets on routes such as London-New York, Dublin-Baltimore or Frankfurt-Providence could be on sale for as low as $12 within the next two years making for the cheapest USA flights in history.
Ryanair has already made a huge success for itself in Ireland, Britain and around Europe by offering cheap flight prices between many European destinations. American travellers would be astonished to see some of the bargain prices available when Ryanair has its sales and promotions, sometimes with flights for as little as 1p or 99p. Even with the current poor exchange rate, that still means you can sometimes fly from London to Cork or Dublin, or to one of Ryanair's other European destinations such as Barcelona, Rome or Venice, for a fare as low as $2 or sometimes even 2 cents, plus taxes.
Michael O'Leary predicts that by 2009, Ryanair will be carrying 70 million passengers between 23 airports around Europe and cheap USA flights are definitely on their radar. The airline has apparently been approached by a number of airports in the USA with a view to bringing in budget flights and opening up the European-American routes to greater competition. Part of Ryanair's European success has involved using smaller airports, sometimes less convenient for the cities being served - a fact for which they have been criticised although many budget travellers don't mind as long as there's a convenient transport connection with the city.
The Ryanair announcement about possible cheap USA flights comes as another low-cost airline, Zoom, announces that it will soon be starting cheap flights between London Gatwick and New York JFK. The budget flights will begin June 21 with a daily service, and tickets will start at £129 one way, including all taxes and fees. Zoom will have a flexible booking service in the same way that British no-frills operator easyJet does, with ticket prices varying according to demand and how far ahead the passengers book.
Unlike Ryanair, Zoom is offering a 'full-frills' service with a choice of economy or Premium economy seats (for an extra £99), designated seating and a full meals service. There is also no 'must stay a Saturday night' restriction. Passengers can also book one-way tickets, and make reservation changes for a minimal fee.
Zoom is based in Canada and for the last three years has been offering cut-price tickets and regular flights to Canada not only from London Gatwick but from other British airports: Manchester, Glasgow, Belfast and Cardiff. The Zoom route map also has flights between London Gatwick and Bermuda. Zoom estimates that it is offering savings of up to 70% on the fares offered by the bigger transatlantic airlines, such as British Airways, Virgin and the main US carriers.
The new Zoom flights will operate from Gatwick's South terminal and Terminal 4 at New York's JFK Airport. Flights will leave London at lunchtime and arrive in New York in the early afternoon. From New York JFK the flights will leave in the early morning, arriving London Gatwick about 6am the next day. At first there will be five direct flights a week, and two more off-peak flights travelling via Bermuda. Travelers can only expect cheaper flights to and from the USA as competition increases.
*
Visit the Zoom website.
Visit the Ryanair website.
*
Read about cheap flights from and within Canada by clicking here.
*
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
