Why is the fare to Greece cheaper than flying back?

Simon Calder answers your questions on airfares, chaos in Catania and Doncaster Sheffield airport

It could cost more than £230 to fly back from Rhodes after the airlines end their summer season (AFP/Getty)

Q I am now in the happy position of being able to travel outside the normal school holidays. I am keen on a five-day trip to the Greek islands (ideally Rhodes) at the very end of October. I would travel out on Saturday 28 October, the day that many families are coming back after half-term, returning on Thursday 2 November.

The airfares going out from the London airports seem extremely low, with lots of choice. But coming back there only seems to be one flight all day, and it costs many times more. What’s going on?

Megan D

A You have chosen to travel out over the last weekend of the summer – that is, the summer according to the aviation industry. Over the weekend of 28-29 October, a couple of things happen. Many airlines in the northern hemisphere change their schedules, in the early hours, from the summer programme to the winter season. Typically the number of flights reduces, and summer destinations are replaced by business routes.

Overlaid on this, the final weekend of October marks the end of the half-term holiday for many British schools, as you say. Accordingly, airlines will typically fly their final missions to many Mediterranean destinations on Saturday or Sunday.

Outbound flights on their last departures of the summer are effectively “empty legs”: trips that are not carrying out mainstream holidaymakers, because there is not a corresponding flight to bring them back a week or two later. Consequently, you can almost name your price, starting at around £25 one way from a London airport (in this case Luton on easyJet) to Rhodes, a distance of over 1,700 miles. Transport to the airport could cost you almost as much.

The catch, as you have discovered, is the lack of choice coming home. From many Mediterranean locations, flights simply disappear. From Rhodes, Jet2 has shrewdly concluded that there is still a market in early November – which is why you are seeing a single daily departure from the island to Stansted, currently priced at £232.

You could instead easily put together a trip on Ryanair via one of its many eastern European destinations from Rhodes: it does not take too much research to find options under £100. Your choice will depend on how much hassle and risk you are prepared to tolerate.

A fire at Catania airport has caused chaos for visitors to the usually idyllic port city (Getty Images/iStock)

Q My daughter and I booked a five-night package holiday to Taormina in Sicily, including flights to and from Catania, accommodation and transfers, through an online travel agent. But our flight was diverted to Palermo. We took a five-hour train journey, changing three times and then taking a taxi to our hotel – finally arriving at 11.30pm. We had no communication from our travel firm and only found out online that our return flight would be from Palermo, not Catania. Public transport did not start early enough for us to ensure we made it to Palermo for the return flight, so we had to leave Taormina a night early, make another five-hour train journey and pay for a hotel in Palermo. We are £350 out of pocket. The airline, the online travel agent and our travel insurance all say they are not liable and won’t pay out. Any advice?

Karina W

A You were caught up in the chaos that followed a fire at Catania airport – the main entry point to Sicily and really handy for the lovely hill town of Taormina. I believe you should be able to reclaim the cash you had to spend. Start your campaign with the holiday company. Remind the firm that the Package Travel Regulations say: “The organiser is liable to the traveller for the performance of the travel services included in the package travel contract, irrespective of whether those services are to be performed by the organiser or by other travel service providers.” In other words, if the flight ends up in the wrong place, the online travel agent must sort out the muddle – or pay for expenses incurred as a direct result.

One possible problem: I don’t know at what point you contacted the travel company. The regulations also say: “The traveller must inform the organiser without undue delay.” If you are unable to demonstrate that you attempted to contact the online travel agent, the firm might deflect your claim once more.

If this happens, move on to the airline. Although the diversion wasn’t its fault, the rules say carriers must cover the cost of additional transport. I think your hotel room may not be refunded by the airline. As a backstop, the travel insurer should pick up reasonable elements that you cannot recoup from elsewhere.

Why isn’t there more noise about Doncaster Sheffield? (DSA)

Q Why is Doncaster Sheffield airport being completely ignored by both major political parties? There has to be a reason.

Paul A

A Doncaster Sheffield (DSA) opened on the site of the former RAF Finningley in South Yorkshire in 2005. Its final flight departed on 31 October 2022. And that was despite a promise from outgoing prime minister Liz Truss having vowed to save the airport during the Conservative leadership hustings.

Anyone who used DSA probably feels the same as me: that it offered a friendly, relaxed experience, as smaller airports tend to do. The main business was holiday flights, particularly on Tui. Once upon a time, Doncaster Sheffield boasted regional connections on Flybe, before that airline went bust in March 2020. Wizz Air set up a base at DSA, which lasted about as long as Ms Truss’s tenure at No 10.

Wizz Air’s abandonment of the South Yorkshire airport was the final straw. Peel Group, which owned Doncaster Sheffield, concluded that it could never be a profitable enterprise – saying: “Despite growth in passenger numbers, DSA has never achieved the critical mass required to become profitable.”

The main problem is that there are too many other airports nearby for Doncaster Sheffield ever to build up the five million annual passengers that is widely considered the “break even” point for an airport to have a long-term, sustainable future.

Other, more successful airports are simply too close for financial comfort: Leeds Bradford (38 miles), East Midlands (46 miles) and increasingly dominant Manchester (53 miles). Airports are gravitational: the more passengers they attract, the more likely airlines are to establish new routes – in turn attracting additional travellers. Doncaster Sheffield never achieved critical mass.

Restoring commercial flying at DSA could be achieved only by pumping in public cash. Both the Conservatives and Labour realise that there is no possibility that this excellent airport will be able to become a flourishing gateway for South Yorkshire and the wider region. They presumably regard ignoring the issue as less damaging than engaging and offering the prospect of financial support that can never be delivered.

Email your questions to s@hols.tv or tweet @SimonCalder