The holiday flight map may appear to be shrinking. Ryanair has scrapped a number of routes, for example, which it blames on the introduction of aviation taxes across Europe. British Airways has also cancelled some services due, in part, to delivery delays for engine parts, and it has axed summer departures from Southampton.
Yet plenty of airlines are launching flights to places you might not have considered visiting, while other launches increase capacity to popular destinations. Here are the new routes to try.
Billund, Denmark
Earlier this month, Ryanair withdrew its service to Billund but Norwegian Air is set to pick up the slack.
In the Danish town where Lego was invented, the original Legoland theme park is the main attraction.
Norwegian will start flying there on 30 June, offering six services a week, from £59 one-way. To mark the new arrangement, Legoland is giving children who fly from the UK with Norwegian free entry (when visiting with a paying adult) until the end of October. If Lego isn’t your thing, there’s the Skulpturpark, the Teddy Bear Art Museum or Lalandia water park.
Wroclaw, Poland
Poland’s fourth-largest city has been overlooked as a holiday destination, but new flights from Gatwick are set to change that for Britons.
According to the most recently available figures, 5.8 million people visited in 2022, compared to more than 11 million who went to Krakow – so now is the time to go.
Wizz Air will operate the new route from 17 June, flying four times a week. One-way fares will start at £26.99.
Wroclaw’s highlights include a medieval market square, flanked by elegant townhouses, and its Gothic old town hall.
Don’t miss a visit to the Museum of Bourgeois Art and be sure to sample pierogi ruskie – stuffed dumplings with potatoes and cottage cheese.
Salerno, Italy
From May, BA will run two flights a week from Gatwick to Salerno Costa d’Amalfi airport – a gateway to the Amalfi Coast. Prices start from £69 one way.
It is an ideal base from which to visit Positano, Sorrento and Ravello or take a day trip to the island of Capri. Salerno has plenty to see, too. There’s the hilltop Arechi Castle and, in its centre, a cathedral that was built on the ruins of a Roman temple.
Tbilisi, Georgia
Official statistics show that in 2023 the number of international visitors to Georgia was 5.1 million, and that figure is set to grow.
BA is running flights to the capital from 30 March. Historically, there have been relatively few direct options, but there will now be four services a week, from £177 one-way.
The city is affordable, with five-star hotels from £61 in August. Its architecture includes art nouveau buildings, Eastern Orthodox churches and reflections of its Soviet past.
Wander the cobblestone streets of the old town and try khachapuri, a cheese-filled bread, or kharcho, a hearty beef and walnut soup.
Toronto, Canada
With the news agenda focusing on US politics, some travellers are looking towards Canada as an alternative destination.
Right on time, Virgin Atlantic is returning to the capital of Ontario for the first time in more than a decade. Daily Heathrow–Toronto flights launch on 30 March, from £419 return.
The city has plenty to offer tourists, including the 553-metre-high CN Tower which, on a clear day, offers views of Niagara Falls and New York State. There’s also the 400-acre, trail criss-crossed High Park and The Hockey Hall of Fame.
Sal, Cape Verde
EasyJet are launching thrice-weekly direct flights to Cape Verde on 31 March, from £130 one-way. That’s affordable for the route, which has few direct flights.
The Atlantic archipelago’s most popular tourist destination is Sal, where these flights will land. Known for beautiful beaches, like Praia de Santa Maria, it is ideal for soaking up the sun.
Sal’s main tourist town is Santa Maria, a lively hub surrounded by pastel-coloured buildings, buzzy restaurants and live-music bars, while the Pedra de Lume salt flats, in the crater of an extinct volcano, offer a unique landscape.
Pula, Croatia
From 2 May, Jet2 is launching flights to the Istrian Coast resort of Pula, from three UK airports.
The Croatian city will be served by twice weekly flights from Birmingham and Manchester airports, as well as weekly trips from Stansted, until 18 October.
Pula has a protected harbour, beach-lined coast and Roman ruins. Must-dos include a visit to the Arena, one of the best-preserved amphitheatres in the world, and a boat trip to the nearby Brijuni islands, a national park.
A five-hour tour to the archipelago costs from €50 (£42) per adult.
New routes with Ryanair
Despite its axed routes, the budget airline has announced a handful of new flights.
As well as the Turkish destinations of Bodrum and Dalaman, it is set to fly to places you might not have considered for a holiday.
First up is Clermont-Ferrand in the centre of France. There will be two flights a week from Stansted between the end of March and October, costing from £21.99 one-way.
Explore the nearby Chaîne des Puys mountains and visit the Gothic Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption Cathedral, which was constructed from lava stone.
Germany will be better served by Ryanair, with routes to Lübeck and Münster, running from now and the end of March respectively, both from Stansted, and from £14.99 one-way.
Lübeck in the north is known as the “City of the Seven Towers”, thanks to its more than 100-metre-high church towers. Its old town is a Unesco World Heritage Site.
Münster has the 13th century St Paulus Dom cathedral as well as Prinzipalmarkt square, flanked by gabled houses and the medieval St Lamberti Church.
Ryanair has also recently launched twice-weekly flights to Reggio Calabria from Stansted, costing from £14.99 one-way. The coastal city in the south of Italy has year-round mild temperatures, beaches and the mountainous Aspromonte National Park, which is home to wolves, boars and deer.
