Manchester Airport is to benefit from an additional 86 regional point to point connections created by Flybe as it becomes the first ever independent carrier in the UK to create a regional network hub from where passengers will have an additional weekday choice of 86 improved connections through Manchester International Airport.

This will benefit in particular passengers travelling to Aberdeen, Belfast City, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Inverness and the Isle of Man as well as those flying with its franchise partner, Loganair from Norwich.

In committing to better serve its passengers with improved connectivity, Flybe has worked hard with Manchester Airport to make these new services possible and reduce minimum connecting times to as little as 35 minutes.

By streamlining connectivity through its Manchester hub, the airline believes the added choice of conveniently connecting domestic flights will prove of special benefit to those travelling on business, those wanting an affordable choice of multiple day returns and creating additional opportunities for regional communities to access the many flight connections to the rest of the world offered from Manchester Airport.

Simon Lilley, Flybe’s Director of Marketing, says: “Flybe has always looked at innovative ways to improve its services and with 5% of our passengers already taking advantage of the many connections we have been offering for several years, it made perfect sense to further optimise this obvious need. As Europe’s largest regional airline serving 36 UK departure points, it made sense to ‘join’ more of them up and do it over Manchester, one of our largest bases. Manchester Airport immediately saw the potential and have worked hard with us to ensure that it could accommodate our re-adjusted schedule that now gives our passengers the added choice of over 80 new domestic connections. We also expect to see an increasing number of regional passengers choose to connect to the many international flights offered at Manchester rather than travelling through Heathrow.”

More than 16,000 football fans are set to travel through Manchester Airport over the next three days – on 74 flights, as Manchester United welcome Athletic Club Bilbao to Old Trafford and Man City fly out to play Sporting Lisbon, in the UEFA Europa League.

31 arriving flights from Spanish airports Bilbao and Vitoria are due to touch down at Manchester carrying a total of around 6,500 Athletic Bilbao fans. Following their team’s Europa League tie against United, 31 flights will depart after the match on Thursday night and into Friday – accounting for a total of around 13,000 passengers.

Over the same period, 12 flights between Manchester and Lisbon will carry a total, in the region of 3,000 passengers, as Manchester City fly out to play in the Portuguese capital city of Lisbon.

Manchester Airport’s Chief Operating Officer, Andrew Harrison, said: “It’s set to be one of the busiest periods of football flights we’ve seen for quite some time and with passenger volumes having show growth for 12 consecutive months now, this is certainly another timely boost.”

Scheduled services run throughout the year between Manchester and both Lisbon and Bilbao – operated by TAP Portugal and easyJet, respectively – however due to the increased demand additional charter flights have been put on to carry fans from to and from Manchester.

The airport has also drafted in extra members of staff to ensure it can cope with the additional passengers – with retail outlets in the terminals also stocking up on extra supplies.

Spanish posters will also be positioned around terminals and fans will also be given handouts, written in Spanish, welcoming them to Manchester and advising them of how to travel between the airport and the city, along with suggestions of tourist attractions to visit.

Coach, bus and train operators are also making additional preparations to help the fans make the eight-mile trip from the airport into central Manchester.

Passengers heading to Manchester Airport should be aware of roadworks around the airport on the following dates:

10 – 13 March
Roadworks taking place near Taxi Feeder Park and Airport Hotel mean the road will be closed to outbound traffic onto the Ringway Road West.

The Ringway Road (East End) will be one way only (inbound)

Virgin Atlantic has appointed its first ever ‘whispering coach’ to ensure that all passengers using the airline’s new Upper Class Dream Suite enjoy the most relaxing night’s sleep possible.

Richard Fitzgerald has taken on the role of Whispering Coach to train the crew for the launch of the new Suite in spring 2012. Offering coaching on the tone, volume and sentiment cabin crew should use whilst talking to Upper Class passengers, his specialist training will also ensure that no passenger is unduly disturbed whilst sleeping and that all passengers wake up and arrive at their destination feeling rested and refreshed.

Richard Fitzgerald, Whispering Coach for Virgin Atlantic Upper Class said: “It is incredibly important that all Virgin Atlantic’s cabin crew have their skills honed in order to provide the most comfortable experience possible for our passengers. The new Upper Class Dream Suite is the ultimate in luxury and comfort and it’s touches like these that make our inflight service second to none.”

Trialled with several focus groups and test-flights, and formulated with input from speech experts, the appropriate level of volume has been identified and the crew are now trained to whisper at tones between twenty and thirty decibels due to its calming effect and the fact that it won’t disturb other passengers whilst lights are out.

Edinburgh Airport has finished first in a Skyscanner poll for the top family-friendly airport.

More than 1,000 families were surveyed and asked to score the UK’s top 10 busiest airports on several family friendly factors including children’s play areas and facilities, food options for children and the security process.

The top 5 family friendly airports:

1. Edinburgh
2. Glasgow International
3. Liverpool
4. Manchester
5. Gatwick

Jet2.com has halved its charges for checked-in baggage for travel in April and May this year.

The offer is valid on all online bookings made from 14 February 2012 for travel in April and May 2012.

On 6 March 2012 Ryanair will switch operations from T2 to T3 at Manchester Airport.

Somewhat controversially, the use of mobile phones on planes was first sanctioned back in 2008. And whilst it never really took off (excuse the pun!), Virgin Atlantic is rolling it out over its entire fleet over the next three years, starting with flights out of Gatwick and Manchester in May.

Whilst on a day-to-day basis (and some might argue on a minute-to-minute basis) we couldn’t be without mobile phones, it seems that the general public don’t want phones to be used during flights.

It seems the mobile craze in the skies hasn’t really taken off and whilst we use our phones for the Internet on the train and in restaurants to check Facebook or Tweet where we are, it’s not something we want to do 30,000 feet up!

A 2011 survey by Fly.com revealed that less than 5% of passengers actually want mobiles to be allowed in our skies!

The Fly.com survey of 1,300 frequent travellers, also revealed:

• 30% of travellers would actually be put off flying with an airline if mobile phones were allowed
• Objections included constant interruption from email alerts and social networking and people speaking very loudly whilst on them
• Passengers would not want to pay more than £5 per flight for Internet access
• Less than 1% of passengers would pay £10 per flight for Internet access.

In February 2009, Ryanair was one of the first to allow mobile phone usage on their aircraft but quickly reversed that decision. Now mobile phones are not allowed to be used on their aircraft in flight. British Airways llows mobile use for its Business Class passengers flying between London City and New York but not for voice calls, just for texts, emails and Internet usage. bmi and Qantas launched similar text and data usage trials.

Emirates offers the full use of mobile phones on selected services, via the AeroMobile facility.

Several years ago, a Telegraph Travel petition saw 7,000 signatures expressing concerns over mobile phones being used on flights, regarding security and safety issues, not to mention the irritation of listening to fellow passengers on the phone!

Speaking about the survey, Aaron Ritoper, General Manager of Fly.com, said: “These results really highlight the perception UK travellers have that connectivity on flights could be more of an interference than an enhancement. We believe this perception will change as services are introduced, given that people already enjoy wireless connectivity when commuting by train.”

From 6 March 2012, Ryanair will move its operations from Terminal 2 to Terminal 3 at Manchester Airport.

The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has launched a new price comparison tool to enable travellers to see a summary of optional charges levied by the top airlines in the UK.

The tool details information of costs of hold luggage, in flight meal charges, seat reservation and other optional airline fees.

Andrew Haines, Chief Executive of the CAA said: “The diversity of UK aviation offers excellent choice and value to UK consumers with airlines adopting various business models. To really benefit from that choice consumers want to know the full price picture. For some passengers and airlines the headline ticket price will be the most expensive part of the booking, whilst for others the impact of optional fees and charges can change their view of the best overall price.

“Our table allows passengers to easily compare the optional fees that airlines charge and it’s important to consider those charges alongside the ticket price and the extra charges that could be applied before making their booking.”

To view the fees and charges comparison table click here: http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/2200/Comparing_airline_charges_1st_Feb_2012_.pdf

The CAA plans to update the charges table on a quarterly basis.