Something To Declare

The column that gives you the global picture

Destination of the week: go to Bournemouth to go east

Next year, Dorset's leading resort will be connected to Scotland by Ryanair, and to Holland, France and Spain by Buzz. It is rapidly becoming the south coast's answer to Heathrow; anyone planning a holiday there (Bournemouth, not Heathrow) can take advantage of a wide range of cheap flights for a holiday-within-a-holiday. The home team – in the form of Palmair, Bath Travel's in-house airline group (0870 738 73 73, www.bathtravel.com) – is doubling the size of its fleet. It is acquiring a second Boeing 737. The airline will offer a wide range of day-trips, many to former Communist countries: Dubrovnik on 2 May (£229), Tallinn on 6 June (£249), Lake Bled in Slovenia on 11 July (£214) and the Slovak capital, Bratislava, on 19 September (£214). "We believe that there are now more day-trip destinations served by Palmair from Bournemouth than all the other airports in Britain put together," says Stephen Bath, joint managing director.

In addition, there is a one-night stand in Moscow on 10 May for £379 – which will see a specially-chartered Jumbo jet taking Dorset folk to the Kremlin.

Warning of the week: Big Apple gridlock Bus and subway (underground) workers in New York are due to begin an indefinite strike at midnight tomorrow. Last-ditch attempts yesterday to forestall the stoppage do not appear to have worked. British visitors planning pre-Christmas shopping trips will be hard hit; the cheap, quick link from Kennedy airport on subway line A will be closed – though anyone flying into Newark can take the usual cut-price option of bus 62 to Newark Penn station ($1.10/£0.70) and the PATH train to Manhattan ($1.50/£1). Indeed, this line will provide the only rail link on Manhattan, with frequent trains between 33rd Street and Christopher Street in Greenwich Village.

Bargain of the week: dash for the Danube

The price of a Heathrow-Budapest return flight has halved compared with 10 years ago. The Hungarian national airline, Malev (0870 90 90 577, www.hungarianairlines.co.uk), has come out with a with-frills fare of £98.70 if you book a month in advance. The fare on the competing services of British Airways (0845 77 333 77, www.ba.com) is just 20 pence more, if you book online.