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European bargain of the week: last call for cheap flights from Gatwick

European bargain of the week: last call for cheap flights from Gatwick

Now that its no-frills offshoot, Go, is up for sale, British Airways is hitting back hard at the low-cost airlines, targeting many of the routes that they serve for £99 return. The flat fare applies from Gatwick to 22 European cities.

In France, you can choose from Bordeaux, Lyons, Marseilles, Montpellier, Nantes and Toulouse - plus Geneva, for the French Alps. The Italian destinations are Genoa, Milan, Pisa, Naples, Rome, Venice and Verona. In Spain, Alicante, Bilbao, Malaga, Palma, Seville and Valencia.

The £99 special from the Sussex airport applies from now through to the end of March 2001, but dates from 15 to 24 December are excluded. Book by midnight on Monday, 13 November - on 0845 77 333 77, through www.britishairways.com, or through a travel agent.

African bargain of the week: Shopping in Casablanca

Royal Air Maroc (020 7439 4361) is diverting people away from New York to North Africa for Christmas shopping, by offering a fare of £206 return from London Stansted. For this price, you travel out on Fridays, returning the following Sunday, Thursday or Friday.

Latin bargain of the week: Costa Rica for Christmas

Since BA abandoned its flights to Costa Rica, the way to San José has involved changing planes en route. Fares over Christmas and New Year traditionally increase sharply, but if you are prepared to travel via Holland, a flat fare of £550 applies. First you fly on KLM from one of many UK airports to Amsterdam, where you transfer to a Martinair flight for the transatlantic journey.

The deal, from Reef and Rainforest Tours (01803 866 965), is valid for outbound departures between 17 and 24 December, returning 2-16 January.

Caribbean bargain of the week: live like Graham Greene

The bravest new city break of the year is a short stay in Port-au-Prince, capital of Haiti. For £769, you get flights on Air France from Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Heathrow, London City, Manchester via Paris, airport transfers, a one-day familiarisation tour of the city and its surroundings, and four nights B&B in the Hotel Oloffson - where Graham Greene stayed while researching The Comedians. The deal is offered by Interchange (tel: 020-8681 3612, website: www.interchange.uk.com).