Charlie give it a week or so then try again, October is usually the time that airlines change there times from summer to winter yuk, things can sometime appear a tad higgldy piggildy at this time of year, Nb, note to self must use the phrase higgldy piggildy much more often

Hi Charlie

The flights don't get released until 11 months beforehand so Sept 2010 should be all out by the end of this month.

trying to get a flight from anywhere to Luqa at the minute is proving difficult.

we were lucky enought to fly from Donny the other year..but they stopped it..then we went from Birmingham twice and it was ok.

Now, we are punching in to fnd a flight for April/May..there is nowt at all from East Mids, a ridiculous time from Birmingham and not that brill from Manchester. We really dont want to be flying from London.

Does anyone know why all the flights to Malta seem to have disappeared????

With BA dropping all flights to Malta, Air Malta is concentrating even more on Gatwick. They are only a small airline, so presumably have had to reduce flights from elsewhere in the UK to free up the aircraft

Ryanair are starting Leeds/Bradford to Malta in March next year.

bmibaby are starting for East Midlands at end May next year

that is bad news..I would rather canoe there than fly with Ryanair...(and my other half is Ryan!!)

we have been trying to find flights with the so called cheaper airlines and it is actually more expensive by the time all the hidden extras are added on...

travelling to London is really not that easy for us or practical..it would take us longer to get to London than to fly to Malta!

oh well, looks like we will either have to take the stupid time from Birmingham or try a Manchester...

Hi Val, what exactly is your problem with Ryanair ???? and have you ever flown with them ????, I hear this kind of thing a lot and I'm at a loss to undestand peoples objections, we have flown Ryanair many times and four times in the past 12 months to Germany once and Belgium 3 times, each time they were excellent value and either early or on time on each leg of all the flights, we would have no problem at any time flying with them either to Northern Europe or further a field to Malta.

I've also had only good experiences flying with Ryanair - all else being equal (which of course they never are - different airport, timing etc), if they are the cheapest by more than £20 I use them, otherwise Air Malta.

Sliema..just because you have not had problems with Ryanair does not mean that no-one else has either...otherwise there would not be so many complaints about them. This is not the place to discuss Ryanair specifically although I would be more than happy to go through the pro's and cons of Ryanair in the appropriate place.

I have found flights from Birmingham cheaply enough but as yet have not booked as we are undecided whether to stay one week or two. If we stay for 2 weeks, we don't mind the late flight time. This is booking through Air Malta.
The local Thomson rep told me that they were introducing flights back there next year from Donny..but Donny have not confirmed this.

Dear Va.

Sliema..just because you have not had problems with Ryanair does not mean that no-one else has either

Which is why I asked you a reasonable question in the first place.

This is not the place to discuss Ryanair

Oops so very sorry Va, I didn't know that you were a secret undercover HT moderator or administrator

methinks I detect some slight undertones of sarcasm, definitely confrontational and possibly arrogance there..so on that note, I will leave you to it.

Val - have you flown with Ryanair ?

yes..but not to Malta..see my response on the other thread.

Anyone else having issues with Manchester bookings for the Summer?

We've a group booked out for diving and various bookings, ours
included, have changed multiple times.

Ours in particular has changed three times, the last being a late PM to
early AM departure, now requiring an extra days holiday. Another passengers
has moved by over 24hrs due to cancellation of the flight on the day she was
booked, after twice moving slots on her original departure date. As you can see
at the bottom, getting really stupid now...

Customer services attitude is simply "Well you can cancel if you want".

We've already several people who won't fly with them following a screw
up with a return leg last year costing them to cut a holiday 36hrs short.

It's a shame, I've normally been a fairly staunch KM fan, but
the last couple of weeks has really knocked that.

It seems to be the MAL-MLA route that they're *&^^ing with.
Now it could be that they've decided lots of disruption on one
route is better than mucking with lots.

As I said, normally their Customer service is VERY good, it's just
this time the conversation went...

"Ok, I've received an e-mail saying my flight times have changed, what
are my options."

"You can cancel with a full refund if you want."

That was it! I actually had to ask if we could take the flight the evening
before (the one we'd originally had canceled / moved!), on the basis I was
losing the day anyway and would rather spend it out there, to be told..

1) They'd have to check

2) On checking, it could be done, but I'd have to wait 6 hrs for 'authorisation'.

3) No re-booking confirmation or communication received, I eventually
logged into the 'manage booking' to find it had been changed.

It's almost as if they've changed overnight.

Flight Originally 14th July MAN-MLA Dep 20:25 (booked Sep 10)

Moved to 15th July Dep 20:55 (Amended by KM 12th Nov)

Moved to 15th July Dep 09:00 (Amended by KM 25th March)

On Requesting (see above) booked onto.....

Wait for it!

14th July Dep 21:50.

Reply to e-mail....

++++++++++++++++++++++++

We would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused.

Please note that we have duly noted the contents of your email
and we wish to inform you as follows.

Every effort is made to ensure the smooth running of our services, but regrettably it is
inevitable that from time to time situations such as yours will occur.

++++++++++++++++++++++++

Wonderful!

Now approaching the point that having three reservations within the group
^%$$! around this much it may not be a case of won't use them again, it's
a case now of we can't with that kind of reliability.

Basically two 24hr changes is enough, no response to requests for info.

It's ashame to see what was a good brand go so downhill so fast, I'm
not aware of any companies business plan working that involves standing on a
roof and throwing €20 into the wind, or, e-mailing customers and saying, "&^!! off
we've changed your travel plans, tough luck, oh and have a nice day..."

For the last few years we've put probably 40-50 sectors through
them a year running dive trips and our own holidays, Never again...

DaveA