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The New Kangaroo Route - London to Sydney with Low Cost Airlines

Low cost airlines have now covered just about every short haul route possible and are now looking at inter-continental long haul flights. It will soon be possible to fly from the UK to Australia one stop, just like the traditional scheduled airlines.

Of course you don't have to fly to Australia in one stop. There are so many low cost carriers along the way that it is possible to break to trip up into multi stops like you would on a round the world ticket.

Flying like this though won't necessarily mean that your flight will be cheaper. And because most low cost airlines aren't in the booking systems of travel agents or online booking engines you have to do all the flight segment research yourself. For someone like me though that is half the fun.

If you are trying to fly straight through it's advisable to leave enough time between connecting flights. If one flight is late and you miss the next you will not just be able to get on the next flight like on a scheduled service. If you are trying to go straight through then one or two stops would be the most managable. Anything over that and you are better off enjoying the city you have flown to.

Here is a list of some route options to fly from London to Australia I have put together using only low cost airlines. Some stop over cities arrive in one city and depart from another city close by (eg Sharjah - Dubai and Hong Kong - Macau). Overland options (eg fly into Mumbai, out of Chennai) aren't included as there are so many possibilities.

One Stop

London (LGW) (Ferry to Macau) Macau (MFM)

to to

Hong Kong (HKG) Sydney (SYD)

Oasis Hong Kong Viva Macau

These options for Hong Kong and Macau are planned for 2008:

Hong Kong (HKG) Hong Kong (HKG) Macau (MFM)

to to to

Sydney (SYD) Melbourne (MEL) Melbourne (AVV)

Oasis Hong Kong Oasis Hong Kong Viva Macau

These options for Kuala Lumpur are planned for 2008:

London (STN) Kuala Lumpur (KUL)

to to

Kuala Lumpur (KUL) Melbourne (AVV)

AirAsia X AirAsia X

Two Stops

London (STN) Dusseldorf (DUS) Bangkok (BKK)	to to to	Dusseldorf Weeze (NRN) Bangkok (BKK) Melbourne (MEL)	Ryanair Air Berlin Jetstar
London (STN) Dusseldorf (DUS) Phuket (HKT)	to to to	Dusseldorf (DUS) Phuket (HKT) Sydney (SYD)	Air Berlin LTU Jetstar
London (STN) Munich (MUC) Bangkok (BKK)	to to to	Munich (MUC) Bangkok (BKK) Melbourne (MEL)	Air Berlin LTU Jetstar

Three Stops

London Luton (LTN) Larnaca (LCA) Dubai (DXB) Kuala Lumpur (KUL)

to to to to

Larnaca (LCA) Dubai (DXB) Kuala Lumpur (KUL) Sydney (SYD)

Thomsonfly Jazeera Airways Air-India Express Jetstar

Four Stops

London (LTN) Istanbul (SAW) Dubai (DXB) Kochi (COK) Singapore (SIN)	to to to to to	Istanbul (SAW) Sharjah (SAH) Kochi (COK) Singapore (SIN) Perth (PER)	easyJet Air Arabia Jazeera Airways Tiger Airways Tiger Airways
London Stansted (STN) Larnaca (LCA) Kuwait (KWI) Mumbai (BOM) Kuala Lumpur (KUL)	to to to to to	Larnaca (LCA) Kuwait (KWI) Mumbai (BOM) Kuala Lumpur (KUL) Gold Coast (OOL)	Thomsonfly Jazeera Airways Jazeera Airways Air India Express AirAsia
London (LGW) Prague (PRG) Dubai (DXB) Mumbai (BOM) Bangkok (BKK)	to to to to to	Prague (PRG) Dubai (DXB) Mumbai (BOM) Bangkok (BKK) Melbourne (MEL)	easyJet Smartwings Jazeera Airways Air India Express Jetstar

I have only covered the kangaroo Route for the list, but it is possible to fly around the world using low cost airlines. If you have you flown from the UK to Australia or around the world on low cost airlines, or have made up some other possible itineraries, leave a comment.

Labels: airlines, australia, kangaroo route, london, low cost airlines, round the world, uk

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Oasis Hong Kong is a long-haul low-cost airline based in Hong Kong. They currently fly to London and Vancouver and are expanding to other destinations in 2008.



I had not considered flying a low-cost airline long-haul due to the perceived lack of services, but the price difference was enough for me to consider again.

Price

This was what got me through the door. The cheapest advertised price was £99, with an asterisk of course.

Fare Breakdown:
Air Fare GBP 99
Fuel Surcharge GBP 29.96
UK Air Passenger Duty Economy GBP 40.00
UK passenger Service Charge GBP 7.90

Total: GBP 176.86

This is for a one way fare from London to Hong Kong. This was booked about one month before travel, and was about half the price of the next best fare found on expedia/opodo with regular airlines. Booking as a one way flight might have made a difference to the fares with other airlines.

Low-cost and Long-Haul?

The low cost model works well for short haul flights as a cooked meal and entertainment isn't necessary on a 2 hour flight. For inter-continental flights though these extras are required to make the long flight bearable.

My perception was that you would have to pay for your meals and your entertainment. Some long-haul low cost airlines are following this route but Oasis haven't.

Meals

Yes, meals are free. There is a dinner service shortly after take off, then a breakfast service before arrival. You can order other meals any time during the flight for a cost.



The meals are your standard inflight fare you would find on a BA/Cathay flight, and you get two choices.

Drinks

Juice and soft drinks are free but you have to pay for alcohol.

Entertainment

Another low cost misconception busted. There is inflight entertainment onboard. Each seat has its own tv screen and has 16 channels plus the usual where are we now Air Show.



Oasis Hong Kong have their own inflight magazine and a selection of newspapars and magazines are provided free as you board.



Remarks

Overall the flight was as comfortable as any flight I have taken in enonomy long haul. The winning difference is in the price difference, though if I found a flight with a comparable price with a traditional alliance airline I would have taken that, if only for the frequent flyer points. The large price difference in this case made gaining points irrelevant.

oasishongkong.com

Labels: airlines, gatwick, hong kong, london, oasis hong kong

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Novel Idea book vending machine at a departure gate at London Gatwick, and none of them by Grisham or Brown.

Labels: airport, books, england, gatwick, london

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Outside the Tate Modern is the giant spider "Maman" by Louise Bourgeois. It is on display until 20 January 2008.

Labels: art, england, london

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Westminster City Council, (which covers London's Oxford Street, the West End, and the Houses of Parliament), has created a toilet-finding service for mobile phone users.

Labels: england, london, public toilet

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To promote the new Brussels - London Eurostar service some advertisements have gone up all around Brussels which have caused a stir - the dream of every advertising agency.

The one that has most tongues wagging is one of a football thug relieving himself in a cup of tea.



Other advertisements include an Alfred Hitchcock and a John Cleese impersonator. While the football thug might not be in the best taste, the ads show how universal these British characters are. There is no parralel ad campaign in London for Brussels. After all that old saying Name a Famous Belgian still rings true.

I thought this ad though sums it up positively for Britain. Apart from the USA, how many other countries could have their last three leaders so easily impersonated and recognised?

Labels: advertisement, belgians, belgium, british, brussels, eurostar, london

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Eurostar has a market share of about 71% of the London-Paris and 64% of the London-Brussels air/rail routes, so it has proved to be the most popular of the two options.

Travel Time

For overall travel time the Eurostar is the quicker option once you factor in travel time to and from airports and minimum required time before flight departure.

There is less hassle to travel on the Eurostar as well. You pass through both countries customs before you board. Clearing customs and baggage screening takes no longer than 20 minutes and you only need to be there 30 minutes before departure.

As you carry your bags onboard and you have already cleared customs, once you reach Paris or Brussels you can walk off the train and straight out of the station.

Wireless

The St Pancras departure lounge has a good laptop work area. Never mind Europe's longest Champagne bar, this may be Europe's longest laptop work bench.



I was soon to be disappointed though as there is no free wireless service on offer. So far none of London's 5 airports offer a free wireless service and there are currently no airlines that are capable of offering wireless inflight (yet).

Surely Eurostar could strike a blow to their airline competition by offering free wireless in the departure lounges and on the train. If a bus can offer WiFi, then why not a train.



Ticketing

This is where Eurostar, and British trains in general, are way behind the pricing reforms that have swept through the airline industry since the low cost boom. Ticket prices are still structured like the airline tickets of old, where a one way ticket can cost more than a return.

Looking for tickets on the UK site I found one way tickets for £150. Then I searched for a return ticket using the same start date and the total price was £60. So it is more economical to buy a return and not use the return half if you want to travel one way.

The one way price is different again on the US version, and there are price discrepancies, as reported by the Independent, where the same ticket is cheaper if you live in Europe rather than Britain (though cheaper prices in Europe than the UK won't come as a surprise for British readers).

In this age of DIY travel booking, it is easy to travel to one destination and leave from another, so it would be a good option to be able to book a one way train ticket, and return via air from another destination.

Finding cheap Eurostar tickets is easy enough. If you book in advance you can find return tickets for £59.

Eurostar

Note: London-Brussels travel was provided by Eurostar.

Labels: brussels, england, eurostar, london, paris, st pancras, train, train station

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At the St Pancras International station is a statue of English Poet Sir John Betjeman. The sculpture was commissioned to recognise the huge role John Betjeman played in the saving of St Pancras from demolition in the 1960s.



It's hard to believe that this station was threatened with demolition, but during the 1960's it was. During this time Victorian elegance was out and concrete brutalism was in.

Down the road from St Pancras the grand Euston station was demolished, only to be replaced by the abomination that stands today. Betjeman tried to save Euston, but did not succeed. Fortunately his efforts saved St Pancras from the wrecking ball.

If you are at St Pancras to travel or just there to marvel at the roof as Betjeman is apparently doing, go over to Betjeman's statue and give him a pat on the back.

Then over the years as appreciative travellers pat him on the back, may a shiny smooth spot appear on his back as a visible token of thanks from all who pass through this station.

Labels: england, london, sir john betjeman, st pancras, statue, train station

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Visitors from Paris and Brussels can then connect from St Pancras to Nottingham, Derby and Sheffield. Lucky them.

Labels: england, eurostar, london, st pancras, train, train station

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On the 14th of November London's Eurostar terminal moved from Waterloo to St Pancras. Eurostar began operations in 1994 but it has until now never been able to travel at high speed when in Britain. A new tunnel was dug under the east of London to enable high speed train travel all the way to the English channel.

The move to St Pancras means that travel times to Paris have been reduced from 2 hours 35 minutes to 2 hours 15 minutes. Travel to Brussels has gone from 2 hours 20 minutes to 1 hour and 51 minutes.

St Pancras comprises two remarkable Victorian era buildings. The front of St Pancras is a classic London landmark, the former Midland Grand Hotel, built in the Gothic revival style by Architect Gilbert Scott.

This part of the station is being converted into apartments, St Pancras Chambers, which is currently being advertised as 66 luxury apatments and 1 unique £10 Million Penthouse.



Behind this grand frontage is the train shed of the Engineer William Barlow. This enclosed area consists of single span arches that measure 74.8m (243 ft) across, which at the time it opened was the largest single span structure in the world.



The Midland Grand Hotel was closed in 1935 and St Pancras went into a slow decline to the point where it was threatened with demolition in the 1960's. Fortunately the building was saved, and in in 1996 the building's fortunes changed when the government approved the new high speed rail link that would put 20 kilometres of tunnel under London, bringing the Eurostar service to St Pancras.

The building was then carefully renovated and modified to accommodate the new high speed service along with the existing mainline services that operate to the Midlands. A modern extension has been added to the arched train shed to accommodate the 400 metre long Eurostar trains. The basement of the old station, which was once used as a cellar to store beer brought to London from the Midlands, is now used as the Eurostar departures area.



Eurostar operates around 50 services a day between the UK and France/Belgium. Eurostar trains are 400 metres long and comprise 18 passenger carraiges and two power cars. There are 750 seats on each train, almost equivalent to the capacity levels of two Boeing 747 planes.

Eurostar

Labels: brussels, england, eurostar, london, paris, st pancras, train, train station

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The 13th of November 2007 is the last day of Eurostar at London Waterloo.



While it may have amused the English to have the French arrive at a station named Waterloo, you can be assured that the French were having the last laugh before they even got to the station. Laughing at the slowness of trains in Britain.

Underfunded British railway infrastructure meant that the high speed Eurostar would have to slow down to regular passenger train speed once it emerged on the English side of the tunnel.

As of the 14th of November the Eurostar will operate from St Pancras and will use the new high speed tunnel under London.

Labels: england, eurostar, london, train station, waterloo

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The London World Travel Market is one of the biggest travel industry events in the world, and it is on from 12-15 November at ExCel in London Docklands. It is held every November and last year over 47000 people attended.

Labels: london, world travel market

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Some giant pumpkins on display at Covent Garden in London on the day of Halloween.

Labels: england, halloween, london

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Landmark Fatigue?

Today I took a walk I've done many times from Victoria Station to Trafalgar Square via Westminster Abbey and the Houses of parliament and down Whitehall.

I realised afterwards that I didn't give a second look at Westminster Abbey or bat an eyelid at the Houses of parliament, two of the most magnificent buildings you'll find in London. I used to work in this area so I would see these buildings every day, so when I see these buildings now they feel very familiar to me.

Brompton Cemetery

This thought occured to me as I was wandering around the Brompton Cemetery in West London. When in London I usually stay around this area, and I always make a visit. It is one of my favourite places in London.





The Brompton Cemetery is one of the Magnificent Seven, a group of cemeteries that were opened in London in the 1800's to cater for London's population explosion and subsequent overcrowding of burial grounds at the traditional Parish Churches.



Of the seven, Highgate Cemetery is perhaps the most famous with its tomb of Karl Marx. Its overrun vegetation and broken tombstones made for ideal sets in Hammer Horror films.

Abney Park in East London has a similar run down feel and its location is way out of the usual tourist path. It has an abandoned church which is featured in the Amy Winehouse filmclip Back to Black.

I like these ones but my favourite is Brompton, if only for its convenient location for me. Once inside you are taken away from the hustle of London to a peaceful parkland. If it wasn't for the never ending procession of aircraft on the Heathrow flightpath and Chelsea's homeground Stamford Bridge looming over the southern end, you could be anywhere in England.

Labels: cemetery, england, london

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Doing the rounds on the Tube in London at the moment is a Nokia advertisement asking this question.

This reminded me of an interesting article I read recently about the decline in manners.



Have you smiled at anyone today?

Too many people these days grunt and ignore their way through life.

We used to be a nation that would happily talk for lengthy periods to perfect strangers about the weather.

We used to know our butchers, bakers, though probably not any candlestick makers, but we did know the old woman at the post office. When did we slip out of the habit?

However it isn't too late for us.

We could, with a little effort, be a lot nicer to each other.

So: betwen the hours of 12am and noon say "good morning" or "morning", noon to 5pm a simple "helllo" will do and 5pm to 12am "evening".

Good luck.

Labels: advertisement, england, london, tube

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London’s County Hall is holding Star Wars: The Exhibition.

Labels: england, london, star wars

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From the 1st of July smoking is banned in public places in England. I wont be sorry to see the end of smoky pubs and cafes.

Labels: england, london, no smoking

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In May I passed through the Earls Court tube station and it was undergoing a major renovation. I went through Earls Court again today and there is still scaffolding everywhere. They have unveiled the new destination boxes, but they still have the old ones up as well.

Labels: earls court, england, london, tube

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I'm always interested to see what Stelios is going to do next with the easy.com brand. So when the easyHotel started in 2005 I knew I would have to try it out one day.

The easyHotel is touted as being the cheapest hotel in London. Rooms start at £25. It is important to note that this is a no frills hotel, just as easyjet is a no frills airlines. If you understand that the hotel is a cheap and comfortable place to sleep for the night then you will be fine.

The rooms are small. Very small! The bed takes up the length of the room and then there is a small pace to the door with the bathroom next to that. If you have large bags you will find yourself dancing around the bags on the limited floor space.

I stayed at the easyHotel located in Victoria where all the cheap (for London) bed and breakfasts are clustered. It is certainly the cleanest budget place I've ever stayed at in this area. The matresses at easyHotel are great too.

Labels: easyhotel, england, hotels, london

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Gordon Brown became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom today.

Labels: england, gordon brown, london

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Who needs to view London from the British Airways London Eye when you can see it all from a British Airways flight to Heathrow. The east to west flight path to Heathrow must be one of the most scenic flightpaths in the world. I always like to get a window seat on the right hand side of the plane when flying into London.

Flying along the Thames you get to see Canary Wharf and the building formerly known as the Millenium Dome. Then it is a flyby past the heart of Westminster with the Houses of Parliament and past Hyde Park.

Labels: england, heathrow, london

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One of my favourite tube stations in London is Earls Court. There are these old destination display boxes there that give you a hint of an era long gone.

Earls Court has got scaffolding everywhere at the moment and their are some boxes wrapped up that look suspiciously like new destination boxes. I hope they are not planning to remove the classic old ones.

Labels: earls court, london, tube

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The Oxford Tube is a bus service that runs 24 hours a day between London and Oxford. This bus service now comes with free wireless internet onboard. Some seats in the downstairs section are at tables with powerpoints, so the bus ride becomes a pleasant way to catch up on emails.

Labels: bus, london, oxford, wireless

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London makes for an excellent lilypad for European travel. There are more low cost airlines that fly here than any other city in the world so your options are great.

Labels: london

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City Glow, Mountain Whisper is an art installation by Japanese artist Chiho Aoshima presented by the London Underground as part of the Platform for art program.

This can be seen at Gloucester Road Underground station from 25 July 2006 until 25 January 2007.



View City Glow, Mountain Whisper Photo gallery in the London travel photos section: City Glow Mountain Whisper

View City Glow, Mountain Whisper Photo gallery with Excel or Powerpoint:

Excel To Download: Windows users - Right click on link. - Save target as. Mac users - ctrl and click. - select Download Linked File.

Powerpoint To Download: Windows users - Right click on link. - Save target as. Mac users - ctrl and click. - select Download Linked File.

Labels: aoshima, artist, chiho, city, gloucester road, glow, japanese, london, mountain, underground, whisper

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The blue plaques of London aren't just the preserve of Prime Ministers and Captains of Industry. Now any old clown can get a plaque. Mind you, Joseph Grimaldi wasn't any old clown, he was the Godfather of modern clowning.



56 Exmouth Market, London EC1R 4, GB. Map

Labels: blue plaque, clown, england, joseph grimaldi, london

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I love London and I consider it my second home, so it pains me to tell you that it has a terrible cafe scene. Britain is well regarded for its cozy pubs with its polished brass and potted flowers. Probably the most endearing feature of British pubs though are their names and accompanying sign boards. This is a feature which goes back to 1393, when Richard II made it compulsory for every inn in England to display a sign. Examples of which can be found at The Inn Sign Society.

The British pub scene left no room for a cafe society like on the continent. Up until the 1990's getting a coffee in Britain usually meant instant coffee in a greasy spoon diner.

Lack of cafes in Britian meant that when coffee became fashionable in the early days of New Labour, there was no resistance to the onslaught of the American style coffee franchises. Just about every British High St now has a Starbucks, Cafe Nero, Costa or Coffee Republic. Big High Streets will have all of the franchises. Really big High Streets (like Oxford St London) will have a all of the francises two or three times over. Small independents are few and far between.

I was pondering all this while walking through Regents Park in London. In the park there is a cafe in what was probably a gatehouse. This hole in the wall sized coffee shop is called the Cow and Coffee Bean. It has a great sign out the front that Richard II would have approved of. This sign made me think of would could have been here if cafes developed along the same path as the pubs.

Labels: britain, cafe, cow and coffee bean, england, iced coffee, london, pub, regents park, richard II

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On the corner of Oxford St and Charing Cross Road you will find Dionysus, one of the few places left in London's West End serving proper English chips. The shop caught fire a couple of years ago so I'm glad to see that it is back in business.

Labels: charing cross road, dionysus, england, english chips, london, oxford st, west end

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You'll want platform 9 and 3/4 for the Hogwarts Express.

Labels: england, hogwarts express, kings cross, london, platform 9 3/4

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Abney Park Cemetery is tucked away from the tourist masses in Stoke Newington, north-east London. I discovered it for myself whilst riding the number 73 bus to Seven Sisters.

The park is overrun with vegetation, creeping over the old tombstones. In the centre of the park is an abandoned chapel, which adds to the gothic flavour of the park. Best enjoyed on a drizzly afternoon.



abney-park.org.uk

Labels: abney park, cemetery, england, london

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The Notting Hill Carnival takes place at the end of August and attracts over one million people, making it one of the largest street festivals in Europe. The small streets of West London are packed in to watch the Caribbean flavoured parade.

Labels: england, london, notting hill carnival

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Tesco, the UK's giant supermarket chain, has introduced a self serve checkout trial in some stores in West London. You scan the items yourself and when you are done you pay with card or cash like you would at a train station ticket machine.

I had a go and it seems easy enough to use though I don't know if it is going to work. They will save labour in not employing a check out operator, but then they need to have people hovering nearby to assist people in using it, as well as extra surveillance and se