New flights/route to Calabria?!

[Richtea]

Hi all,

I'm registered on on a few forums and recently e.g. today! there is a new discussion on a new route to Lamezia from Luton:

Calabria Property Forum • View topic - Seagle Air for London - Lamezia

the link you can paste to the article although I checked out the airline too as I'd never heard of it before: A Slovak one called 'Seagle'. Now before you go thinking is it April 1st it does all look quite genuine. Pity, I cannot find more through the official website...might be expensive but who knows at the mo? Anybody else share any light? Mentions though that they have been in financial difficulty so perhaps it's a wait and see...............................

Rich, Hels and Tom x

[bella_ciao]

Originally Posted by Richtea

Hi all,

I'm registered on on a few forums and recently e.g. today! there is a new discussion on a new route to Lamezia from Luton:

Calabria Property Forum • View topic - Seagle Air for London - Lamezia

the link you can paste to the article although I checked out the airline too as I'd never heard of it before: A Slovak one called 'Seagle'. Now before you go thinking is it April 1st it does all look quite genuine. Pity, I cannot find more through the official website...might be expensive but who knows at the mo? Anybody else share any light? Mentions though that they have been in financial difficulty so perhaps it's a wait and see...............................

Rich, Hels and Tom x

Hi,
Thanks for this information - it's always helpful when members share news of flights, etc., on this forum.
I just had a quick look at Wikipedia's page on Seagle Air and it states the following:

"On 23 October 2009, Seagle Air temporarly ceased all its services due to finance problems."

That's effective as of today, although I guess it's worth checking back to see whether this company manages to rally again in the future and reinstate the Lamezia flights.

Here's a link to the page: Seagle Air - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Here's another news source: Slovak charter airline Seagle Air halts flights - Taiwan News Online

Hope this helps.

Thanks again for your input.

Ciao,
Frances.

[annetigano]

Have just been reading the Lamezia airport website and it says that following lengthy negotiations in Italy and Dublin, Ryanair will be resuming flights to Lamezia in December. Twice a week from 6 December to 28 March and then four times a week from 28 March.
It has not yet shown up on the Ryanair site but keep checking.
Unfortunately we have already booked a couple of trips via Naples with Easyjet so will have to use those but fingers crossed we can travel to Lamezia for the rest of the year.
Anne & Tony

[bella_ciao]

Originally Posted by annetigano

Have just been reading the Lamezia airport website and it says that following lengthy negotiations in Italy and Dublin, Ryanair will be resuming flights to Lamezia in December. Twice a week from 6 December to 28 March and then four times a week from 28 March.
It has not yet shown up on the Ryanair site but keep checking.
Unfortunately we have already booked a couple of trips via Naples with Easyjet so will have to use those but fingers crossed we can travel to Lamezia for the rest of the year.
Anne & Tony

Hi,
Just to say that I have just checked the Lamezia Terme Airport website and it appears that this message about the resumption of Ryanair flight from London Stansted to Lamezia is an old one posted on 4th November 2008 (they're very laid back in this part of the world!), so I think it's a case of 'as you were', at least for now. I've not posted a link to the website here to avoid misleading anyone else - this message refers to the resumption of the winter flights last year, after Ryanair pulled them for a brief spell during the autumn, unless I'm very much mistaken. I thought it was strange that Ryanair had no record of the flights to Lamezia when I checked their website just now because it's the sort of thing they would want to announce, which is why I checked it out on the Lamezia Terme site.
Ah well, we can but remain optimistic that the flights will be resumed some time soon - if not, in the new year, probably around March time. It's good to know that members are keeping an eye open because there are many who would like to see these important flights reinstated.
Thanks very much for your input.
Ciao,
Frances.

[annetigano]

Well spotted - sorry for misleading anyone. Didn't think to look at the date it was posted.
Anne

[bella_ciao]

Hi Anne,
Not to worry - it's a mistake anyone could have made - you'd think a message like that would have been removed from the website by now.
Anyway, thanks for taking the time to post the info. If you see any news that those Stansted to Lamezia flights have been reinstated, or any other related flights, we'd all like to hear about it.
Thanks again.
Ciao,
Frances.

[bella_ciao]

Hi all,
I was recently trawling the Scalea Property website and found a note on there about some new proposed flights to Lamezia from Gatwick, due to run from April to October 2011. Please see the information posted at the following link:

Scalea Property Services

After doing a little more "digging", I found some more detailed information on the "In Calabria" site, at this link:

Calabria Homes Forum • View topic - DIRECT FLIGHTS FROM LONDON GATWICK TO LAMEZIA CONFIRMED

It would seem this is a chartered flight, leaving on Saturday mornings, being laid on by Monarch Airways to form part of specific package holiday deals, which will be sold through various UK tour operators. However, it also seems that one third of the plane's seats will be made available to the general public to make their own private bookings. If the flight is well-supported, it seems they will also be willing to lay on some Manchester/ Lamezia flights.
All of this comes as good news to those of us who need a more direct route to Calabria since Ryanair stopped flying to Lamezia but it remains to be seen how competitive Monarch's prices will be (as opposed to making the round trip from another Italian airport). The first time we visited Calabria, some seventeen years ago, there were no Ryanair flights and we had to book charter flights, which were expensive at the time. Here's hoping Monarch will make their prices attractive enough to those of us who don't need to book a package holiday to visit Calabria but would like a more practical and direct route to our destination and then they will be assured of plenty of support for this new route.
Anyway, I thought that members of the forum would appreciate hearing about these new developments, which look promising and could be the solution to some of the current travel problems.
In any case, I hope all who are either over there at the moment or who are planning to travel soon are having a great time in the Calabrian sunshine and that you have a very safe and pleasant journey both ways.
Ciao a tutti,
Frances.

[maisy]

I have just received a e mail advising that monarch airlines are going to start flying from gatwick to lamezia in april 2011 looks to be saturdays only and will probably only be from april to october but who knows
cheers
maisy

[bella_ciao]

Originally Posted by maisy

I have just received a e mail advising that monarch airlines are going to start flying from gatwick to lamezia in april 2011 looks to be saturdays only and will probably only be from april to october but who knows
cheers
maisy

Hi,
I have just been onto the Monarch website and, although they have stated that their flights start from 11th April 2011 at a price of £219 for a return ticket, the earliest available flights seem to start from 29th April at a price of £229.50 return per person. These flights are only available on a Saturday.
About the best thing about this is that it is a direct flight but, when you consider that you could get two tickets for under £200 with Ryanair when they were flying there, it does seem rather expensive when you can get a package holiday to some destinations for the same price. Nevertheless, it's good to know that these flights are now available for those who want a hassle-free journey to Calabria and at least it opens up opportunities for travellers from the south-east but it may be more expedient to use the alternative routes with Ryanair/ Easyjet, etc., to other airports in Italy and then take a connecting flight or hire a car for the onward journey.
On the positive side, most of Monarch's flights are under £300 throughout the season and the most expensive are £311.50. However, I could only go as far as September on the website, so I'm not sure whether they will extend this search later on.
All in all, I suppose it can only be a good thing to have these direct flights to this area of Calabria, since many people from England now have holiday homes there and the price of accommodation in the area can be quite reasonable, especially for long-stays.
Here's a link to the Monarch website, which gives more information about these flights and leads to the booking section:

Monarch | 2010 News - Flights - Monarch launches new flights to Calabria | Flights News

If anyone books a flight with Monarch to Lamezia, perhaps they would be kind enough to post their experience on this thread about the whole process - from booking their flight to the service and the flight itself, etc.
Thanks.
Ciao,
Frances.

[uakelly]

Had an e-mail today from Cresta Villas about the Saturday Monarch flights. They also say they will increase them if demand is there???
Also they sent the following information:

Also Skytrain/Astra Airlines have announced they will be starting a 3 times a week service from London City Airport into Reggio Calabria. Although aimed at business travellers and further south to travel, this will be a useful alternative flight.

SKYTRAIN AIRLINES



PS I could find the price but not when they flew!

[maisy]

These flights seem to be Monday, Wednesday and Friday and fly via Brescia
although they do seem quite pricey
Cheers
Maisy