Will the summer of 2021 be that of the resumption of travel?
There is hope as the vaccination campaigns continue as best they can on the European continent, and that, for some politicians, collective immunity could be reached on July 14 ... Enough to rekindle desires elsewhere and stir up the appetite of the air carriers which announced, in these first days of spring, the opening of lines in cascade.
From Santorini to Menorca via Tangier or the Azores,
Le Figaro
delivers its selection of new lines planned for the summer from French airports.
New flights mainly aimed at destinations in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean, and carried by low-cost companies.
Be careful, if the prices displayed are often dizzyingly low, the services on board or the addition of luggage can increase the bill.
Of course, health constraints remain omnipresent on board airplanes, between compulsory masks and health passports currently being drawn up or by the airlines themselves.
Last detail, the carriers keep flexible commercial conditions.
Air France, for example, is offering 100% flexible tickets until the end of the year, with modifications free of charge and refundable credit.
Transavia for its part makes it possible to postpone the flight free of charge, up to 2 hours before departure.
Read also: Green passport, vaccination passport, health certificate ... A brief vocabulary for travelers in the time of Covid-19
Greece: Santorini and Mykonos Live
One of the most popular destinations for the French in summer, Greece plans to welcome foreign tourists again from May 14.
First, the Greek company Aegean Airlines will strike a blow by opening 5 new lines from France from May.
Among these, direct flights will be launched between
Paris-Charles de Gaulle
and
Santorini
(2 flights per week) or
Mykonos
(3 flights per week).
Also on the summer program:
Paris-Corfu
(2 flights / week),
Lyon-Mykonos
(2 flights / week) and
Lyon-Corfu
(2 flights / week).
In total, Aegean plans to serve 9 French airports this summer for a total of 17 routes and 40 weekly flights.
Another company to strengthen its service to Greece: Transavia, with five new lines planned.
From Paris-Orly, the company with green and white Boeing aircraft will fly from July 3 to
Préveza-Aktion
(2 flights / week from € 54 one way).
From
Nantes
, direct flights to
Santorini
and
Rhodes
will be inaugurated on May 12 and 16, respectively).
As well as a direct line to
Corfu
announced for July 3 (1 flight / week from € 39 one way).
Finally, a new route will link
Montpellier
and
Santorini
(1 flight / week, from € 49 one way) from July 5.
Read also: Travel to Greece: vaccines, PCR tests ... How the summer of 2021 is shaping up
Corsica: from Figari to Calvi
The bay of Girolata, in Corsica.
Adobe Stock
On the Isle of Beauty, some new features are to be expected for the summer of 2021. Transavia will link
Nantes
airport for the first time
to those of
Calvi
(just like Volotea, which will launch this same line on June 5),
Bastia and Ajaccio
every Saturday between early July and mid-September.
The low-cost subsidiary of the Air France group will also fly to
Ajaccio, Bastia, Calvi and Figari
from
Brest
and from
Montpellier
.
Another company to strengthen its flights to Corsica: easyJet, which is preparing to launch (from late June to early September)
Paris-Calvi, Lyon-Calvi, Nantes-Ajaccio
and
Nantes-Figari lines
.
Figari will also see the arrival of Ryanair, which will fly there, from July 3, from
Toulouse
and
Bordeaux
.
As for Air Corsica, optimism is in order and the company plans to return to 100% of its capacity, or 2 million seats, for the summer.
Currently at a standstill, all lines not falling under the public service will be relaunched one after the other: between
Toulouse
and various towns in
Corsica
(Calvi, Ajaccio, Figari ...) since April 2,
Clermont Ferrand- Ajaccio
from May 9,
Dôle-Bastia
from June 22,
Toulon-Corse
from July 8.
The lines departing from Lyon will see their capacities increase from the Easter weekend.
Flights from Brussels should also resume on April 24, with the opening of a new link between the Belgian capital and Figari.
Read also: The ten most beautiful villages in Corsica, from Penta-di-Casinca to Zonza
Portugal: from Paris to the Azores live
Faro, city of arrival or departure for a stay in the Algarve.
rh2010 / stock.adobe.com
A European destination that attracted the most French people last year, Portugal will obviously see its batches of seasonal flights sweeping through its territory, from Porto to the Algarve.
A summer marked by a major airline innovation: the opening of a direct flight between
Paris Charles-de-Gaulle
and
the Azores
.
From June 1, SATA Azores Airlines will connect France to the islands located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, with three flights per week.
Arrival will be at Ponta Delgada airport (island of Sao Miguel), from which connections to the other islands of the archipelago will be made: Santa Maria, Graciosa, Terceira, Pico, Sao Jorge, Faial, Flores and Corvo.
Read also: Ten reasons to discover Portugal
Spain: Menorca in the spotlight
Cala Macarella, one of the jewels of Menorca.
Adobe Stock
In Spain, companies will be stepping up their programs this summer to the second Balearic Island, less popular than its neighbors Mallorca and Ibiza:
Menorca
, via Mahon airport.
Starting with Malta Air, a subsidiary of Ryanair, which will offer two flights per week from July to October between
Bordeaux
and the Spanish island, in competition with easyJet and Volotea.
Ryanair which also announces the opening from July 3 of a bi-weekly link between
Menorca
and
Marseille
.
For its part, the
low-cost
Spanish company
Vueling will set up special flights between
Paris
and Menorca from the Easter holidays.
Finally, among the cascade of new flights announced by Transavia, note the launch of routes between
Lyon
and
Nantes
on one side and
Mahon
on the other.
The two flights will be operated from July with two rotations per week.
Read also: Mallorca, Ibiza, Formentera, Menorca: which one to choose?
Maghreb: Tangier, Oran, Constantine or Sfax ...
Tangier la blanche has been the crossroads between the Middle East, Africa and Europe for hundreds of years.
hespasoft / stock.adobe.com
Air link launches will also be numerous on the southern shores of the Mediterranean.
Starting with the low-cost Air Arabia Maroc which will allow, as soon as the borders with the Shereefian kingdom reopen, to reach
Casablanca
from Bordeaux.
The Moroccan company will also set up a service to
Fez and Oujda
from
Marseille
.
Air France, already very present in Morocco, especially through its subsidiary Transavia, is also announcing a connection to
Tangier
from
Paris-Charles de Gaulle
.
Up to 3 flights per week will be offered from June 3 for a round trip at the price of 119 euros.
Finally, a new
Bastia-Fès
line
should also be noted on the Transavia side.
Read also: Moroccan architecture and crafts to the rescue of Fez
At the Algerian neighbor, many new lines, via low-cost companies, will see the light of day, in particular with the Spanish Volotea, which, jumping on the void left by the bankruptcy of Aigle Azur, will launch at the end of summer eight new connections: from
Marseille
to
Oran, Sétif and Tlemcen
.
Come later
Annaba, Constantine and Bejaia
.
From
Bordeaux and Lyon
, Volotea will also fly to
Algiers
.
On the Tunisian side, note the extension by Transavia of the link between
Paris-Orly
and
Sfax
at the rate of 3 flights per week from April 20.
The French company also announced the opening of a weekly route between
Orly and Hammamet
, from July 8.
