Simon Calder, also known as The Man Who Pays His Way, has been writing about travel for The Independent since 1994. In his weekly opinion column, he explores a key travel issue – and what it means for you.
In aviation, if it looks too good to be true – it may still happen. I am flying out to Marrakech for the annual convention of Abta, the travel association, on Monday morning. My return fare for 2,800 miles of air travel aboard the world’s safest airline, Ryanair, is £57.
A reader named Malcolm is also off to Africa – but to Johannesburg, in the far south of the Continent. He writes: “I am looking to fly to Johannesburg from London later this month. I found a deal on Skyscanner which was very reasonable. But it is on an airline called Air Odisha. Never having heard of them before, I am very cautious.”
He kindly attaches a screenshot from an online travel agent showing an 11-hour nonstop flight on a Boeing 747 from Heathrow to South Africa’s main hub on Air Odisha for, indeed, a very reasonable £305.
When I tried to replicate the search, I could find nothing of the sort – which suggests Skyscanner is doing its job and removing obvious rubbish from the flow of data from online travel agents.
Air Odisha was a short-lived regional airline in India that had just one aircraft (a small propellor plane, not a Jumbo jet). It certainly never flew anywhere near the UK or South Africa, and I have no idea why any company would pretend that it would be doing so in a couple of weeks’ time.
Skyscanner provides an extraordinarily useful service in allowing travellers to survey the available options for any route on any day. I am a budget traveller and always seeking a good deal. The Air Odisha ghost flight was an aberration. But even looking at genuine offers I am wary of choosing the very cheapest option.
Right now I am looking at a proposed itinerary on Malcolm’s date for £325 one way. It involves flying from Ryanair from London Gatwick to Dublin – with just one hour 40 minutes to go through passport control, collect luggage and check in for an Egyptair flight to Cairo and an onward connection to Johannesburg.
The Egyptair segments are linked, which means that the airline will need to look after you if the Dublin-Cairo hop misses the connection. But if the first leg is late, the rest of your itinerary (and your money) will be lost.
Much more tempting is an Egyptair-only trip from London Heathrow for a mere £332. It offers good timings and a…
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