I picked this up from yesterdays Independant:-
Bargain of the week: fly via Cologne to Turkey
Britain's no-frills airlines have, so far, ignored Turkey, mainly because the flight times of four hours or more don't fit the standard low-cost model. But the German city of Cologne has become a gateway to several coastal cities. And thanks to excellent links to Cologne from a range of UK airports, it is possible to put together a good-value itinerary using low-cost airlines.
You could, for example, fly to Cologne from Edinburgh, Stansted or Gatwick on Germanwings (
www.germanwings.com); Manchester or Newcastle on Hapag-Lloyd Express (
www.hlx.com); or Gatwick or Nottingham on easyJet (
www.easyJet.com).
At Cologne-Bonn, flights are available to the Turkish capital Ankara and to Izmir on Germanwings or Antalya on Air Berlin (
www.airberlin.com). An "open-jaw" itinerary, flying out to Ankara and back from Antalya, is possible, since journeys are priced on a one-way basis.
Many flights between Germany and Turkey are overnight, making connections with UK flights easy. But build in some time in Cologne: partly to allow for delays, and partly because it's worth a day's stopover.
Turkey's largest city, Istanbul, remains off the no-frills schedules, but last month a new low-cost route opened up. Turkish Airlines (020-7766 9300;
www.turkishairlines.com) has launched flights from Stansted in parallel with its existing operation from Heathrow. Fares below £200 are available on off-peak flights.
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