Ryanair - love them or hate them?

Nine out of ten international passengers arriving into Alicante´s El Altet airport flew in on a "low cost" carrier. Figures reveal that of the 168,913 passengers arriving throughout the month of January 2013, 151,490 of those used either Ryanair, Easyjet, Vueling or Air Berlin.

The figures which were released by the Ministry of Industry, Energy & Tourism highlight the importance of "low cost" airlines into Alicante - whose annual increase at 5.7% was the largest across the whole of Spain. El Altet ranked in 5th place behind Barcelona, Madrid, Malaga and Tenerife-South.

Ryanair´s well documented charge...

Despite peoples moans and groans about Ryanair´s "stringent" luggage allowances and extortionate charge for printing a boarding pass at the airport (currently 60 GBP), they continue to be favourites alongside Easyjet. Not too sure whether "favourite" is the correct description as often its a case of no other choice unless you travel to another departure airport.

Hen party out to have some fun.....

Hotels are looking forward to the influx of tourists over the Easter holiday, in particular from the British market. Some which have been shut over the last few months during the Low Season are starting to dust down in readiness to re-open. The Stag & Hen season will also start at around the same time keeping many of the bars busy, especially over the weekend - they usually come on a 3 night break. Did you know that Benidorm is the number 1 spot in the whole of Europe for them and that the majority fly in on Ryanair!

But over the last few days, Orizonia, a leading tour operator in Spain have caused ripples of alarm as they call emergency meetings with their creditors and cancelled all bookings. 25% of the hotels in Benidorm are affected by this crisis and are fearful that they will not be paid by the company. Some hotels have been charging the holiday makers for their stay, even though they have already paid the tour operator..... this affects predominantly Spanish visitors.

Busy Levante beach front in Benidorm last week

But Antonio Mayor, President of Hosbec, the Hoteliers Association is fearful that the ripples may spread. He spoke of the possible reasons contributing to this situation explaining that because of the need to stimulate demand, prices have been slashed and in turn profits are at the lowest levels ever recorded in history. Orizonia owe hotels in Benidorm 1.5 million euros for bookings - lets hope that prices do not start to increase in those hotels trying to claw back losses!

Brits booking with UK companies need not worry... they have seen a surge in bookings as holiday makers shy away from DIY, instead wanting the reassurance and protection of a tour operator incase things go wrong. But don´t forget that you will still need travel insurance regardless - if you haven´t booked a package holiday , ensure your cover includes "end supplier failure", which will protect you if a company you booked with goes bust. And most importantly, remember to take your EHIC card - which even with private health cover is a requirement on many policies!