Should we hold out hope for our trip to Tasmania?

Simon Calder answers your questions on travel amid a wildfire crisis, visiting ex-Soviet states and the worsening service to Cairo

The state hasn’t been so badly affected by bushfires as Australia’s mainland (iStock)

Q We’re in our sixties and organise our own escape from UK fairly cheaply each February. We were thinking of exploring Tasmania in 2020 as our only experience of Australia has been a few days in Sydney.

We haven’t booked anything yet and are wondering whether it’s wise in the light of the bushfire situation?

We had hoped to do some walking along the coast, and in national parks etc. It appears from the maps that only the southeast of Tasmania is affected, but the rest of the southeast of the country seems pretty terrible. Any advice appreciated.

Glynis D

A Just wait. Since you are in the happy position of being able to travel off-peak, you will be able to decide at the drop of a hat whether to fly to Australia in February, or choose somewhere closer that has not been hit by wildfires (South Africa or Argentina are tempting options). Tasmania has had a sometimes tragic history of wildfires – the most extreme of which in modern times was in February 1967 in which 62 people died.

The island was also hit at the start of 2019 with many out-of-control fires in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, in the south and west of the island. The damage is still visible in many places, but if you take advice from local people you will be able to explore safely.

Compared with the eastern mainland states, Tasmania has been little affected by this month’s bushfires.

And if you want to avoid the southeast of Australia, you could consider availing of the Perth-Hobart non-stop flights on Virgin Australia. These operate a couple of times a week and make the journey much easier – just four hours in flight. Or build in a stop in Adelaide, and explore some of South Australia.

Fares for February are likely to be around £900-£1,000 return from London to Hobart, whether you book now or in a month’s time. I suggest using a good, human travel agent, who will be able to advise on the best deals.

Got Georgia on your mind? Fly into the pretty city of Kutaisi (Getty/iStock)

Q In April 2020, I want to visit some or all the three former Soviet republics of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. I have only a week. Is it possible? If so, which would you recommend? I live in London, by the way.

James B

A I suggest you choose between Georgia alone, or Georgia plus either Armenia or Azerbaijan. Geo-political conflict means you cannot travel between the last two without returning to Georgia.

The best flight out is on Wizz Air from Luton to Kutaisi, itself a pleasant city in west-central Georgia. From here you can travel on to the capital, Tbilisi, taking in the city of Gori – home town of Stalin – and the superb religious monuments of Mtskheta, located above the Mtkvari River downstream from Tbilisi. Travel is flexible; there are some trains, which are cheap and safe, but minibuses are usually faster.

The capital is well worth a couple of days: Tbilisi has a gorgeous location in a deep river valley, some lovely walks into the hills and a range of architecture from medieval to post-Soviet. The food is also the best in Georgia, which is saying something.

From here you could loop back to Kutaisi through the beautiful south of Georgia; or cross into Armenia and head south to Lake Sevan and then to Yerevan; or take the overnight train to Baku, on the shore of the Caspian Sea, and investigate the Azerbaijani capital – located below sea level, and which was the original oil-rush city, with bling ancient and modern.

Your timing is good because a couple of flights are starting up at the end of March and will offer new and enticing prospects. Ryanair has a new route serving Gyumri, the second city of Armenia, from Memmingen in southern Germany, which means you could do more of a tour; and Pegasus is starting up between Istanbul and Batumi on Georgia’s Black Sea coast, which will cut fares on a route that was previously a monopoly for Turkish Airlines.

Thousands of expats work in the Egyptian capital (Getty/iStock) (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Q I have today emailed the CEO of BA to complain about the state of affairs on the London to Cairo route. Charter after charter, downgrading aircraft etc. A third class service for a BA fare. Thousands of expatriates work in Cairo, not to mention the many Egyptians who travel. This should be a profit-making route. I do not understand the thinking behind it. Are you aware of the situation?

Gregory T

A Go back a decade, and the route from London Heathrow to Cairo was extremely competitive. British Airways served the link with its shortest Boeing 747 service: the jumbo flew out at around 5pm, arriving close to midnight, and came back early next morning. The service was timed to scoop up lots of connecting traffic. BMI, which was soon afterwards taken over by BA, had two narrow-bodied flights a day, and Egyptair also flew twice daily.

Ten years on, Egyptair continues with its two-a-day pattern: an afternoon flight outbound aboard a Boeing 777, and an overnight served by a 737. But the only competition now is BA’s flight, on which the outbound timing has been switched to a disagreeable 8.30pm departure from Heathrow and 3.25am arrival in Cairo.

The Boeing 747 was taken off the route shortly after the Arab Spring began in Egypt in 2011. Since then, the gauge of the aircraft has been erratic. Heathrow-Cairo has also been a casualty of the problems that British Airways has had with the Rolls-Royce engines on some of its Boeing 787 Dreamliner jets.

BA says: “Like other airlines around the world, we continue to carry out detailed precautionary inspections on Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines on some of our Boeing 787 aircraft to ensure we meet all the relevant regulatory safety requirements. To facilitate the additional engine inspections and any associated maintenance we have had to make some minor adjustments to our long-haul flight schedules.”

Two frequent candidates for “adjustment” are the routes from Gatwick to New York and from Heathrow to Cairo. The choice indicates that BA is not overly impressed with their profitability. British Airways passengers a while ago found themselves on ageing Air Belgium Airbus A340 jets. Currently BA has chartered in an Airbus A321 from Titan – a regular provider of “ad hoc” capacity for scheduled airlines.

In principle, though, British Airways would ideally like to use one of its own 787s on the route – and, from 13 January, that is the plan. I agree that the fares are high for a journey of less than 2,200 miles. For my next trip, in March, I am contemplating a combination of easyJet and Air Malta for around £100 one way, compared with many hundreds of pounds on BA or Egyptair.

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