Airlines

Airlines.

There are hundreds of airlines to choose from when deciding to take a holiday and fly of to fabulous destinations.

Do you have a favourite airline? Or is flying all a bit of a chore for you? More importantly, what makes a great flight experience? Sometimes it could be something totally unrelated to your flying experience. It may just be your traveling companion and or your chosen destination. Most of the time it has a lot to do with the airline, and the service they provide their passengers. If it’s a great service, the airlines are more likely to get repeat passengers.

Whatever the reason, we all experience the thrill of taking a trip. Even the long queues before we check-in our baggage becomes unimportant, ( well sort of). Just as long as we board and get on our way. Depending on your destination, there are two main types of flight service available.

SHORT HAUL – A short-haul can be 2 – 5 hours duration and or within the same Country. Commonly called a “domestic flight”.

LONG HAUL – A long-haul flight is usually beyond 5 hours and from one Country to another.

All of the airlines featured on this page, provide long-haul international flights Some also provide short-haul flights. They have been chosen for their overall good quality service, we’ll add more.

I love to fly, as with many others I like to get the best possible flights. Who I fly with depends on a number of different factors. The destinations the airlines fly to, the flight time and whether I’ve used those airlines before. The overall service, the extras and of course the price tag. If you’ve only got a week off, a short-haul flight rather than a long-haul flight appeal to you more later.

What airline you decide to travel with depends of several factors. You may opt to choose a favourite of yours. Choose one of the big Companies, a household name or a chartered flight. If they can get you to your destination safely, does it really matter which of the airlines you choose? If you live in the UK and whan to travel to Dubai, you might choose to fly with air Emirates. If you’re looking at a European destination, somewhere like London, Paris, Rome. You might choose Finnair or KLM.

Looking at traveling from the other side of the Atlantic. If you are in the USA, and want to travel to London. You could fly with American Airlines, United, Southwest or Virgin Atlantic. All big airline Companies, all well known and all have great service. I’ve been fortunate enough to have used all four carriers.

Popular Airline Carriers.

British Airways.
British Airways, (BA) fly to over 300 destinations worldwide. Just pick a Country at random, BA will get you there. The headquarters is based in Wakefield, close to Heathrow Airport which additional offices at Gatwick and London City Airports. The majority of flights operate out of what is often said to be the busiest airport in the World; London’s Heathrow Airport.

Brussels Airlines.
Brussels Airlines offer a broad range of worldwide flight connections with a choice of flexible, no-nonsense low-cost fares. Keep a lookout for the latest promotions and low-fare specials.

Finnair.
Finnair provide numerous international flights via Helsinki to Rovaniemi, Kittilä and Ivalo in Finland. Also the Baltic and Scandinavian cities. Other Worldwide destinations include the Far East; Delhi in India Beijing, Hong Kong, and Shanghai in China, Korea, Nagoya, Osaka and Tokyo in Japan.

KLM – Royal Dutch Airlines.
KLM is the 4th largest airline in Europe, they provides a airline service to more than 16 million passengers every year. They are the only International airline that fly to Liverpool in the UK. Their international flights stretch from Asia, Africa, Caribbean, Canada, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East, South Africa and USA. Their headquarters are in Amstelveen; Holland, close to Amsterdam Airport. They have great competitive prices.

Lufthansa Airlines.
Lufthansa Ailines fly to over 400 destinations in over 100 Countries around the World. It is one of the leading airlines around the Globe with headquarters based in Cologne, Germany. Lufthansa is also one of the largest passenger carriers in Europe. They provide airlines services to more than 70 million passengers every year. They also have the largest frequent flyer program in Europe.

SAS – Scandinavian Airlines.
Scandinavian Airlines, (SAS) is the leading carrier in Northern Europe. They fly to over 65 destinations and have 19 code-share destinations. Their domestic routes include Denmark, Norway and Sweden. SAS fly to 176 destinations in 30 Countries with international destinations that include Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the USA. SAS headquarters based in Solna, Sweden.

Singapore Airlines.
Singapore Airlines flies throughout 5 continents and 64 cities around the World including Ireland, South East Asia, South West Pacific, UK and USA. Singapore Airlines made history when they introduced the world’s largest commercial aircraft, the Airbus A380. They also operates one of the youngest fleets in the sky. Headquarters are at Airline House in Singapore. They also operate the world’s two longest non-stop commercial flights. From Singapore to Los Angeles and from Singapore to Newark, New Jersey, USA.

Swiss International Airlines.
SWISS Interantion Airlines are part of the Lufthansa Group and is Switzerland’s best known airline. SWISS is a quality airline that operates services to more than 80 destinations around the world. Including Asia, Brazil, Canada, Europe and USA. Their headquarters is based in Basel, Switzerland.

I don’t know if any of the above airlines rank as favourites with you. But if you want some inside information on cheap flight deals, click the link.

For alternative ways to travel see, train travel.

Photos by:san san and Morgan Noguellou