It’s time, yet again, for a moment of reflection on the performance of a few low-cost carriers over the preceding month. For the first time we’re including Monarch’s stats in our comparative essay. Why? Well, because Monarch sent us a nice little email a few days ago with their April stats. Low-cost carrier publicists, take note.

For the fourth straight month, SkyEurope beat Ryanair in increase of numbers of passengers flown. Against April 2006 numbers, the number of passengers carried by SkyEurope last month ballooned 44.7%, against growth of 19% for Ryanair and growth of 16.4% for Monarch.

SkyEurope also trounced Ryanair in April load factor percentage increase (that is, the average number of seats filled), with a load factor increase of 7.4%, against a 2% drop in seats filled by Ryanair (and a 4.9% drop in seats filled by Monarch.)

Despite this, Ryanair filled marginally more seats than SkyEurope did in April: 83%, against 82.1% for SkyEurope and 80.2% for Monarch.

Popularity: 2% [?]

SkyEurope launched a weekend sale today, good through Sunday, April 15. The €19 one-way fares (taxes included!) are good for travel from May 1 through October 27, on a wide range of routes. €19 fares include 16 destinations from Vienna.

TUIfly’s €19.99 one-way fares (taxes also included!) are also bookable through Sunday, April 15. Sale routes are rather more limited than SkyEurope’s selection, though it does include Stuttgart-Berlin, Hannover-Olbia, and Stuttgart-Palermo stretches.

Note that these fares haven’t passed through the EuroCheapo Blog fare test control system. That is to say, we haven’t actually attempted to find these fares, and as observers of low-cost carrier fare sales know, posted fare sales often don’t show up in significant numbers or on convenient travel days.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Photo by seadipper

You’re strolling around Venice when suddenly it strikes: an insatiable craving for Mélange mit Schlagobers. Where did this hankering for the whipped, caffeinated Austrian delight come from? Who knows? In any case, you need to get yourself to Vienna pronto.

Taking the night train from Venice to Vienna is an old Cheapo trick. Why does it make sense?

For one, hotel rates in Venice are notoriously inflated, from €100 to €200 per night, with a few one-star pensions and hostels running cheaper. In comparison, a 2nd class overnight ticket between Venice and Vienna costs about €75. If you have a Eurail pass, traveling on the Allegro line can be even cheaper. Deals are also sometimes offered on the route—over one Easter weekend not long ago, we scored a €45 ticket.

Once you’re in Vienna, there are more affordable hotels to choose between. You’ll pay between €45 and €75 for a cheap room. A more upscale room can be had for between €75 and €149, leaving you enough money to go on a ravenous strüdel binge. What happens in Vienna, stays in Vienna, after all.

SkyEurope flies between Venice and Vienna for even less. This summer they’re offering €.01 fares, which swell to €19 once taxes are taken into consideration. Cheap, no question, but traveling by night train allows you to consolidate your lodging and transportation costs and eliminate time- and euro-sucking trips to the airport.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Photograph by SkyEurope

To promote their recent addition of Vienna as a new base airport, SkyEurope is hawking €19 airfares (taxes and charges included!) to and from Vienna.

These low fares will apply to flights to and from all sixteen destinations served by SkyEurope from Vienna. Among the highlights, in our view: Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bucharest, Larnaca, Paris, Thessaloniki, and Zadar.

The €19 fares are on sale through Sunday.

We’re still waiting for Kiev and Istanbul to show up on the SkyEurope map, but these low fares will do for now.

Popularity: 2% [?]

photograph courtesy of Alex Robertson Textor

We were pleased to open our FT this morning to find a Special Report on Slovakia, written by Robert Anderson and Katka Krosnar. We love these four-page FT Special Reports. They’re pithy and they cast a broad net.

The FT’s Slovakia report notes the booming Bratislava property market and forecasts continued growth in the Slovak capital. Among the evidence marshalled to support this claim, the authors cite the expected completion of a direct motorway between Bratislava and Vienna later this year and the planned expansion of the EU’s passport-free Schengen zone to include Slovakia in 2008.

The report also outlines the tourist pressures on Slovakia’s Tatra Mountains, where environmentalists and developers are engaged in a pitched battle over the future of the region.

And of course, there’s an interesting corporate profile on SkyEurope. The FT profile observes that SkyEurope is looking to expand to airports in Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine—all of which would be welcome inclusions on the low-cost map.

We suppose this would be a good time to mention that SkyEurope’s €5 flight sale has been extended to February 25, 2007.

Popularity: 3% [?]