Airlines - Budget & Long Haul across the world
The Airlines section started out on the Travel Tips & Hacks page, but by the time the time we broke it down across the regions for budget and long haul carriers, the list of options became far too long, so we had to give it it's own page.
We have split this into Regions covering European, American, Asia & Pacific, North & South American options.
Budget Airlines
European Travel
For travel to European destinations from the UK and Ireland, as well as within Europe the the budget airlines tend to be the best option in terms of cost, even after the various add-ons have been included (Baggage, Seat Allocation etc). These include, but are not limited to:
- Ryanair
- EasyJet
- Wizz (Based in Hungary with several flights from UK Airports)
- Norwegian (Norway)
- Vueling (Spain)
- Transavia (Netherlands)
- Condor (Germany)
Note: Since the Russian Invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 (Слава Україні!), some budget airlines have cancelled their routes to some Eastern European locations, particularly Wizz, who serve Far Eastern European locations and the Balkans. This is due to Russia firing missiles at Ukraine through their airspace via their fleet in the Black Sea (This directly Impacted Richard's Trip to Moldova in May 2023).
In some instances, to get where you want to go, you will need to take a Budget Airline to an Intermediate country (Romania in Richard's case) and then use the national carrier of your destination country or the Intermediate country (Richard used the Romanian National carrier TAROM to fly from Bucharest to Chișinău, and back), then back to your intermediary country to fly home.
European Travel - Tour Operator Airlines
For some smaller European locations, particularly in France, Spain, Italy & Portugal, you should also jeck out flights with tour operators, who fly to multiple locations within each of these countries. They will either fly directly to, or very close to your destination, allowing you to use cheap local transport methods to get to your final destination, with all of them offering "Flight Only" options. Common Tour Operators include:
- TUI
- Jet2
- EasyJet Holidays
Africa
* Brackets indicate main country of the carrier, not the routes available
- Airlink (South Africa)
- Air Arabia (Egypt)
- Air Cairo (Kenya)
- Fast Jet (Zimbabwe)
- Green Africa Airways (South Africa)
- Jambojet (Morocco)
Asia & Pacific
Given the size of Asia as a region, we have broken these down by key countries:
Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan & Uzbekistan)
* Brackets indicate main country of the carrier, not the routes available
- Air Astana Regional (Kazakhstan - Covering Central Asia)
- Fly Arystan (Kazakhstan)
- SCAT Airlines (Kazakhstan)
- Air Manas (Kyrgyzstan)
- Somon Air (Tajikistan)
- Turkmenistan Airlines (Turkmenistan)
- Air Samarkand (Uzbekistan)
- Uzbekistan Airways (Uzbekistan)
Indian Sub-Continent (Bangladesh, India, Nepal & Pakistan):
* Brackets indicate main country of the carrier, not the routes available
- Air India Express (India)
- IndiGo (India)
- Vistara (India)
- GoAir (India)
- SpiceJet (India)
- AirBlue (Pakistan)
- Serene Air (Pakistan)
- Air Sial (Pakistan)
- Fly Jinnah (Pakistan)
- Buddah Air (Nepal)
- Nepal Airlines (Nepal)
- Shree Airlines (Nepal)
- Sita Air (Nepal)
- Summit Airlines (Nepal)
South East Asia
* Brackets indicate main country of the carrier, not the routes available
- AirAsia (Malaysia)
- Citilink (Indonesia)
- Firefly (Malaysia)
- Jeju Air (South Korea)
- JetStar Asia (Singapore)
- Lion Air (Indonesia)
- NOK Air (Thailand)
- PAL Express (Philipines)
- Peach (Japan)
- Scoot (Singapore)
- Spring Airlines (China)
- Tigerair (Singapore)
Australia & New Zealand
* Brackets indicate main country of the carrier, not the routes available
- Jetstar (Australia)
- Virgin Australia (Australia)
- Tigerair (Australia)
- Air Chathams (New Zealand)
Middle East & North Africa
* Brackets indicate main country of the carrier, not the routes available
- Air Arabia (Egypt)
- Jambojet (Morocco)
North America
* Brackets indicate main country of the carrier, not the routes available
- Breez Airways (USA)
- Fronteir Airlines (USA)
- JetBlue (USA)
- SouthWestern (USA)
- Air Canada Rouge (Canada)
- Flair Airlines (Canada)
- SunWing Airlines (Canada)
South American Budget Airlines
* Brackets indicate main country of the carrier, not the routes available
- Amaszonas (Bolivia & Uruguay)
- GOL (Brazil)
- JetSmart (Argentina & Chile)
- Paranair (Paraguay)
- Sky (Chile,& Peru)
- Viva (Mexico)
- Volaris (Costa Rica, El Salvador & Mexico)
Long Haul & National Carriers
Global Travel from Europe - Long Haul Carriers
For long haul travel, and travel outside of Europe, we generally recommend the national carrier of your own country, or the national carrier of your destination country (With the exception of Belarus - We found Lufthansa via Frankfurt to be the mest option for getting into Belarus (Minsk).
They all offer much the same in terms of services (Economy, Economy Plus & Business classes), and serve global locations, usually only via their home base (Eg: British Airways from London Heathrow, Lufthansa & Condor via Frankfurt, KLM via Amsterdam etc...). Although some Tour Operators also offer good value flights to long-haul locations.
Some airlines we have flown with from the UK, Ireland and mainland Europe to consider checking out:
- Aer Lingus (Global - Via Dublin)
- Air Astana (Central Asia - Via London, then Astana & Almaty)
- Air Canada (Canada & North America - Via London)
- Air China & China Southern (China - Via London)
- Air France (Global - Via Paris) [South American Routes]
- Air India (Global - Via London then Delhi)
- American Airlines (USA - Via London) [South American Routes]
- Azerbaijan Airlines (Caucuses - Via London)
- British Airways (Global - Via London) [Note - Club Europe is really not worth the price!]
- Cathay Pacific (Global - Via London then Hong Kong)
- Delta (Global - Via London, Dublin to the USA) [South American Routes]
- El Al (Israel - Via London)
- Emirates (Global - Via multiple UK Airports, then Dubai)
- FinnAir (Global - Via London then Helsinki)
- Iberia (Global - Via London then Madrid) [South American Routes]
- Iceland Air (Iceland & North America - Via multiple UK airports)
- JAL - Japan Airlines (Japan - Via London)
- LATAM - Latin American Airlines (South America via London) [South American Routes]
- LuxAir (Luxembourg - Via London & Dublin)
- Korean Air (South Korea - Via London)
- PIA - Pakistan International Airlines (Pakistan via London)
- Quantas (Australasia - Via London)
- Royal Jordanian Airlines (Jordan, Israel & Lebanon - Via London)
- Singapore Airlines (Global - Via London, then Singapore)
- SAS - Scandanavian Airways (Global - Via multiple UK airports, then via Copenhagen, Oslo or Stockholm)
- TAP - Air Portugal (Via multiple UK airports then Lisbon) [South American Routes]
- Thai Airways International (South East Asia - Via London)
- Turkish Airways (Global - Via London then Istanbul)
- Virgin Atlantic (Global - Via London)
Africa
* Brackets indicate main country of the carrier, not the routes available
- Ethiopian Airlines (Ethiopia)
- Kenya Airways (Kenya)
- KLM - Royal Dutch Airways (Netherlands)
- Madagascar Airlines (Madagascar)
- South African Airways (South Africa)
Australia & New Zealand
* Brackets indicate main country of the carrier, not the routes available
- Air New Zealand (New Zealand)
- Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong)
- Emirates (Dubai)
- Malaysia Airlines (Malaysia)
- Qantas Airways (Australia)
- Qatar Airways (Qatar)
- Singapore Airlines (Singapore)
Middle East & North Africa
* Brackets indicate main country of the carrier, not the routes available
- Air Algerie (Algeria)
- EgytpAir (Egypt)
- Emirates (Dubai)
- Etihad (Abu Dabi)
- Kuwait Airlines (Kuwait)
- Oman Air (Oman)
- Qatar Airlines (Qatar)
- Royal Air Moroc (Morocco)
- Royal Jordanian Airlines (Jordan)
- Tunisair (Tunisia)
Asia & Pacific
Central Asia
* Brackets indicate main country of the carrier, not the routes available
- Air Astana (Kazakhstan)
- Turkmenistan Airlines (Turkmenistan)
- Uzbekistan Airways (Uzbekistan)
Indian Sub-Continent (Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan & Sri Lanka)
* Brackets indicate main country of the carrier, not the routes available
- Air India (India)
- Biman Bangladesh Airways (Bangladesh)
- Nepal Airlines (Nepal)
- PIA - Pakistan International Airlines (Pakistan)
- Sri Lankan Airlines (Sri Lanka)
South East Asia
* Brackets indicate main country of the carrier, not the routes available
- AirAsia (Cambodia, Malaysia)
- Cambodia Airways (Cambodia)
- Cambodia Angkor Air (Cambodia)
- Garuda Indonesia (Indonesia)
- Royal Brunei Airlines (Brunei)
- Philippine Airways (Philippines)
- Thai International Airlines (Thailand)
- Vietnam Airlines (Vietnam)
North America
* Brackets indicate main country of the carrier, not the routes available
- Air Canada (Canada)
- Alaska Airlines (USA)
- American Airlines (USA)
- Delta (USA)
- Hawaiian Airlines (USA)
- WestJet (Canada)
- United (USA)
South America
* Brackets indicate main country of the carrier, not the routes available
- Aerolineas Argentinas (Argentina)
- Aeromexico (Mexico)
- Avianca (Colombia & El Salvador)
- Boliviana de Aviacion (Bolivia)
- LATAM (Pan South-American carrier)
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