Let's make a concerted effort

[maggiesaes]

Yes it is a catch 22 quite clearly.
Tui are losing the stranglehold they used to have so there is a bigger choice of flights and it is far easier to book direct with hotels and apartments.
Maybe that will help.

[AndrewK]

It seems choice is being eroded with Thomas Cook walking away leaving a virtual three-way tie between Tui, Jet2 or booking independently.

Jet2 (for better or worse?) appears to be building up a large portfolio of apartments in the village, and the owners of the properties must be happy with the situation as they have seemingly signed up for another summer, at least.

Personally, I would not fancy October too much but that is just my choice and it obviously suits others.

[Tredegar Boy]

It seems choice is being eroded with Thomas Cook walking away leaving a virtual three-way tie between Tui, Jet2 or booking independently.

Jet2 (for better or worse?) appears to be building up a large portfolio of apartments in the village, and the owners of the properties must be happy with the situation as they have seemingly signed up for another summer, at least.

Personally, I would not fancy October too much but that is just my choice and it obviously suits others.

My wife and I have had an October break the last couple of years, Portugal and Spain both were still lively, but I wouldn't like to go somewhere where its in shut-down mode. If there was a sprinkling of taverna's, say half-dozen or so and a few bars, that would do me.

[maggiesaes]

I don't mind it quiet at all-just not totally dead but as you say a little choice.

[mrsjune22]

OOps something happened there.Thanks to TUI, who are no longer flying from Leeds/Bradford to Corfu. I can no longer visit friends that I have made there after visiting for last 12 years. I'm used to travelling Friday-Friday where we stay. Too old to change now.
.

[Jimbo]

They are using Easyjet as their carrier.

[maggiesaes]

Tui like Fridays as their cruises start on Fridays.

Our taxi driver sent me some pics on Viber this week,he was in San Steph and it made me feel quite sad seeing it look deserted.

[Jimbo]

TUI packages from Leeds/Bradford are there for Fridays. This year they chartered planes from Sunwings but looks like next year they are using Easyjet. The flight times are pretty good, from my quick look today.

[maggiesaes]

Tui from Cardiff has always used the familiar Thompson aircraft but this Monday flight is new so we shall see.

[Jimbo]

In 2014 EasyjetHolidays partnered with TUI for charter flights, and it seems TUI claim to be paying £10 per passenger more than the low-cost carriers in airport charges, so they are pulling out of lots of airports in the UK:

http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/articles/20187/tui-considers-move-to-third-party-flights

Thomson/TUI have had two 737s at Doncaster in recent years, but whether that will stay the same remains to be seen. Easyjet don't fly from Doncaster (or didn't) but they use it a lot for training on landings because it's quieter than LBA and has a very long runway from the days when it was a V-bomber base as RAF Finningley. My guess is that Doncaster needs TUI's business, and will probably make a good deal to keep them there.

Jet2 probably get a good deal from LBA as it's their main hub.

In the increasingly likely event of a no-deal Brexit things will get interesting. They'll have to make a very quick arrangement for flights, including maintenance and training requirements, for landing in the EU. Ireland is completely enclosed in UK-controlled air-space, so until agreements are in place flights from Dublin would have to climb in spirals until they reached about 30,000 feet, at which point they can fly across UK airspace as part of the international over-fly laws. Ditto on arrival at Dublin! That's a lot of extra fuel burn. The reverse will apply to flights originating in the UK to anywhere in the world, which are currently covered by international agreements with the EU. That's an awful lot of expensive bureaucracy.

[Tredegar Boy]

The EU have said that there are plans in place to deal with a no deal Brexit which will be introduced immediately after 29th covering things like flights and British citizens in the EU (very important) and things like the movement of plants (less so unless you're nursery owner I suspect). But they also threaten to withdraw those plans if it suits them to do so - there's neighbourly

[maggiesaes]

We keep hearing there are olans for a no deal Brexit and much work has been done,let’s hope so but better still hope it won’t come to that.

[Jimbo]

All sides seem to be saying that flights will be managed, at least for a reasonable period. It's not in anybody's interest to cause cause global travel chaos. That might be one tiny corner of sanity in this peculiar Xmas where we seem to have a lot of pantomime villains and a shortage of fairy godmothers!

[maggiesaes]

Let's hope so Jimbo.
At the end of the day nobody actually wants any sort of disaster nor can anyone afford it to be so.
Common sense and sanity must prevail.
I am wondering just how much we will need to take with us to spend though if the £ drops much further.
we normally save to take enough to be able to say.'Who cares how much it is we ant it' just for that couple or three weeks twice a year.

[maggiesaes]

Merry Christmas everyone.