Hit the sun, straight from your doorstep: The new direct flight routes from local airports for summer 2020

  • Ryanair is launching flights from Liverpool to the port city of Zadar, Croatia  
  • Head to the Greek island of Skiathos on the new TUI flights from Bournemouth 
  • EasyJet has direct flights from Belfast to Turkey’s Dalaman airport

Every week our Holiday Hero Neil Simpson takes an in-depth look at a brilliant holiday topic, doing all the legwork so you don’t have to. This week: new routes to the sun from local airports.

Nothing takes the shine off a summer holiday like long queues at Heathrow or any of the country’s other big airports. But this summer there are new direct routes to the sun from many of our smaller, local airports. Here’s our pick of the new routes – all available to book now.

FROM BELFAST

This summer easyJet has direct flights from Belfast to Turkey¿s Dalaman airport

This summer easyJet has direct flights from Belfast to Turkey’s Dalaman airport

Turkey is tipped as a hot destination for value, and if you head to its ‘Turquoise Coast’, you can find rocky coves, secret beaches and plenty of pretty coastal towns. Swim across the kaleidoscopic Blue Lagoon before a dinner of freshly caught fish. This summer easyJet has direct flights from Belfast to Turkey’s Dalaman airport. Or choose Greece and Jet2 flies you direct to Corfu, ‘the emerald queen’ of the Greek Islands.

FROM BRISTOL

TUI has new flights to Girona, perfect for Gaudi-lovers wanting to see nearby Barcelona, and to Izmir for sun-lovers heading to the Turkish Riviera. It also has flights to Almeria for families going to Spanish resorts.

Ryanair is starting flights to Brest, in Brittany, where you can enjoy local pancakes or ‘galettes’ washed down with Breton cider in the most westerly point of France. Or hop on a new easyJet flight to Antalya, another gateway to great-value Turkish sunshine.

FROM BOURNEMOUTH

Head to the picture-perfect Greek island of Skiathos on the new TUI flights and you’re just a boat ride away from Skopelos where Mamma Mia! was filmed. 

FROM EXETER

Classic Canary Island holidays are easier to reach on new TUI flights to Gran Canaria. The island offers whale-watching, water parks and new wellness facilities as well as bars, beaches and a biosphere park.

FROM LIVERPOOL

New routes: Ryanair is launching flights to Zadar (pictured) from Liverpool

New routes: Ryanair is launching flights to Zadar (pictured) from Liverpool 

If you want to go island-hopping in Croatia, Ryanair is launching flights to the port city of Zadar, also home to incredible Roman ruins. Meanwhile easyJet has new flights to Turkey’s sunshine coast at Antalya.

FROM DONCASTER SHEFFIELD

Fuerteventura, one of the most interesting of the Canary Islands, gets its new flights with TUI. The entire island is a Unesco World Biosphere so it’s a nature-lover’s paradise. It has great hiking, surfing, huge sand dunes and endless beaches. Or head to Greece on one of TUI’s new flights to the family favourite of Crete.

FROM EAST MIDLANDS

Take a direct Jet2 flight to Izmir and the Turkish Riviera awaits you, with its beaches, great-value, all-inclusive accommodation and historic sites, including ancient Turkish baths. TUI also has flights to Turkey’s Antalya and to the sunny Greek islands of Crete and Skiathos. 

FROM NEWCASTLE

This summer TUI will take you from Newcastle to Hurghada in Egypt, which offers amazing scuba-diving opportunities

This summer TUI will take you from Newcastle to Hurghada in Egypt, which offers amazing scuba-diving opportunities

Love Greek islands? There are new Jet2 flights to Kos and TUI flights to Skiathos and Santorini, home of the perfect sunset. This summer TUI will also take you to Hurghada in Egypt for scuba-diving in the Red Sea resorts.  

FROM NORWICH

Go straight to the Turkish sunshine without passing Heathrow on a new TUI flight to Antalya, from where it’s a short transfer to most seaside resorts and smaller, family-run hotels.

FROM SOUTHEND

Ryanair gives the Essex airport a French flavour this summer with direct flights to Bergerac in the Dordogne and to the revitalised port city of Marseilles. It also has a new route to the medieval city of Girona in northern Spain.

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