The Scottish Mail on Sunday

Now get ready for a blast of autumn sun

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EVERY week our Holiday Hero NEIL SIMPSON takes an in-depth look at a brilliant holiday topic, doing all the legwork so you don’t have to. This week: new choices for winter sun.

NEW routes to the sun are opening up for late autumn and beyond. Airlines say demand is so high that many of their ‘summer-only’ routes will fly for several extra months.

Some are now due to last all year, and many of the new routes are from regional airports so there’s no need to travel to London.

Leading the pack is Jet2, the only UK airline not to cancel a single fight in July, according to the Official Aviation Guide.

It has announced plans to fly from Birmingham, Leeds Bradford and Manchester airports to sunny Malta until the end of November, some two months longer than originally planned.

This autumn Jet2 will also launch its first flights from Manchester and Birmingham to Athens. New winter-time routes from airports such as Belfast and Bristol are also planned.

Flight-only fares start at £36 each way, or packages with flights, transfers and four-star hotels cost from £423pp at jet2holida­ys.com.

From November, Manchester sees new easyJet flights to Fuertevent­ura, the second-largest of the Canary Islands. Holidays suit active travellers as the island is popular with hikers, kite-surfers and windsurfer­s. Plus, with nearly 100 miles of beaches, Fuertevent­ura has plenty of room to relax in the sun. Flights from £29 one way, holidays from £257pp.

EasyJet will also start to fly from Gatwick to Porto Santo island off the coast of Madeira.

Crowd-free and with no huge hotels, the island is perfect for laid-back holidays and long walks along its sweeping, six-mile beach. Flights cost from £176 return (easyjet.com).

Two of Egypt’s top Red Sea resorts, Sharm-el-Sheik and Hurghada, both see new direct flights from Luton with Wizz Air this winter.

From souks to the Shark Reef dive site, Sharm attracts holidaymak­ers who like its mix of beachside hotels and excursions including Bedouin Dinners under the stars.

In Hurghada, there’s an emphasis on luxury resorts and you’re close enough to Luxor for full-day trips to Karnak and the Valley of the Kings.

This autumn, Wizz will also start flights from Gatwick to Agadir on Morocco’s south Atlantic coast. Flights from £68 one-way (wizzair.com).

The historic streets of Dubrovnik will be easier to reach this winter as British Airways keeps its summer route from Heathrow running all year.

BA will also retain direct flights to Marrakech in Morocco, making it easier to stay in a riad-style hotel and visit colourful attraction­s such as the late Yves Saint Laurent’s Jardin Majorelle.

This winter, Nice on the French Riviera and the Italian city of Verona, setting for Shakespear­e’s Romeo And Juliet, will also retain a full schedule of BA flights.

Looking ahead to 2023, the Caribbean island of Aruba, part of the Dutch Antilles, is one of the most eye-catching holiday options that gets new flights from London’s Gatwick Airport.

Aruba’s warm waters let you snorkel or dive around colourful corals and to a ‘ghost ship’ (one of the biggest shipwrecks in the Caribbean), and even the cockpit of a sunken plane.

Days on the island can be spent on any of dozens of whitesand beaches, including Eagle Beach, consistent­ly voted one of the world’s most beautiful.

At night you can find anything from casinos to quiet, candlelit restaurant­s with sunset views. Flights from £594 return and packages including hotels from £999pp (britishair­ways.com/aruba).

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 ?? ?? FLIGHTS OF FANCY: A sun-kissed beach on Aruba and, below, Yves Saint Laurent’s garden in Marrakech
FLIGHTS OF FANCY: A sun-kissed beach on Aruba and, below, Yves Saint Laurent’s garden in Marrakech

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