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Something To Declare: Prestwick airport; driving in Portugal; onwards from Boston

The column that gives the global picture

Saturday 10 January 2004 01:00 GMT
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Destination of the week: Prestwick airport

Scotland's fastest-growing airport celebrates the 40th birthday of its terminal this year, and this week gained yet another new route on Ryanair (0871 246 0000; www.ryanair.com): Prestwick is now linked to Bergamo, north of Milan, at least when Italian air-traffic controllers are not on strike. But the Ayrshire airport is also a magnificent relic of 1960s intercontinental aerial ambition - and the only place in the UK visited by Elvis Presley, who touched down in 1960. Fly from Cardiff on Bmibaby (0870 264 2229; www.bmibaby.com), or Bournemouth or Stansted on Ryanair (0871 246 0000; www.ryanair.com).

Warning of the week: why you might prefer not to drive in Portugal

Should you find yourself motoring on the EN125 road along the Algarve coast of Portugal, take great care. That is the view of the Association for Safe International Road Travel (001 301 983 5252; www.asirt.org). It rates the highway road as "Portugal's fourth most dangerous road" - and this in the country that has the highest death rate in the European Union.

Why so dangerous? A combination of alcohol, dangerous overtaking and poor signposting, says the Association. The very worst road in the country, it believes, is the IP5 highway between Coimbra and Vilar Formoso on the Spanish frontier - a road that, in summer, will be busy with soccer fans travelling to Euro 2004.

You will not be much better off walking: "general lack of respect for pedestrians' rights contribute to high fatality rates".

Bargain of the week: onwards from Boston

JetBlue (001 800 538 2583; www.JetBlue.com) this week launched flights from Boston airport to Denver, plus the Florida cities of Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Tampa. These destinations can now be accessed with a cheap transatlantic flight (under £200 on Virgin Atlantic) and a change of plane in Boston. You can also reach Long Beach (home of the original Queen Mary liner) and Oakland (for San Francisco) in California.

Typical domestic return fares to Florida are $175 (£110). Inflight bonuses include 24 channels of live television - and, for most passengers, a generous seat pitch of 34in.

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