Middle East - Anthony Ham [545]
If you’re headed for Tel Aviv, Qantas Airways and El Al via Asia are the best. Other options include Alitalia via Milan, Lufthansa Airlines via Frankfurt or KLM Royal Dutch Airlines via Amsterdam.
Both STA Travel ( 134 782; www.statravel.com.au) and Flight Centre ( 133 133; www.flightcentre.com.au) have offices throughout Australia.
In New Zealand, both Flight Centre ( 0800 243 544; www.flightcentre.co.nz) and STA Travel ( 0800 474 400; www.statravel.co.nz) have branches throughout the country.
Central Asia & the Caucasus
Look no further than İstanbul as your gateway to the Middle East from Central Asian and Caucasus destinations. There are regular flights between İstanbul and Almaty (Kazakhstan), Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), Baku (Azerbaijan), Tashkent (Uzbekistan) and Ashghabat (Turkmenistan) with Turkish Airlines and/or the national airlines of each country.
From Tel Aviv, Uzbekistan Airways flies to Tashkent.
Europe
With the rise of online booking services, there’s not much variation in airfare prices for departures from the main European cities, but prices do vary considerably depending on your date of travel and when you booked. All the major airlines also usually offer some sort of deal and travel agencies generally have a number of special offers, so shop around.
Look out for cheap charter-flight packages from Western Europe to destinations in Turkey, Egypt and Israel. Some of the flight-plus-accommodation packages offered by travel agencies can work out to be cheaper than a standard flight, although often the dates can be very restrictive.
Most European carriers fly into the major cities of the Middle East (usually several times a week); the most frequent connections are with Paris, Frankfurt, Rome and Athens.
Recommended agencies on the mainland in Europe:
Airfair ( 0900-7717 717; www.airfair.nl; Netherlands)
Barcelo Viajes ( 902 116 226; www.barceloviajes.com; Spain)
CTS Viaggi ( 199 501 150; www.cts.it; Italy)
Nouvelles Frontières ( 08 25 00 07 47; www.nouvelles-frontieres.fr; France)
STA Travel ( 069-743 032 92; www.statravel.de; Germany)
UK
Although charter flights leave for Turkey and the Red Sea resorts of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula from many UK airports, most regular flights leave from London and a handful of other international airports. There are few dedicated specialists for Middle East flights and your best bet is to call STA Travel ( 0871 230 0040; www.statravel.co.uk) and Trailfinders ( 0845 058 5858; www.trailfinders.co.uk), both of which have branches throughout the UK.
If you’re looking to fly into Egypt then it’s also worth calling Soliman Travel ( 020-7244 6855; www.solimantravel.com), a reputable Egypt specialist that often manages to undercut the competition, usually with charter flights.
USA & Canada
There are more flights to the Middle East from the USA than from Canada, but still not that many: Royal Jordanian flies between Amman and New York/Chicago or Montreal, as well as a handful of other US cities; EgyptAir flies between New York and Cairo; El Al connects Tel Aviv to a number of US cities as well as Montreal; and Delta Air Lines flies from Tel Aviv, Cairo and İstanbul to New York with connections elsewhere in North American cities.
STA Travel ( 800-781-4040; www.statravel.com) has offices in many major US cities; call the toll-free 800 number for office locations or visit its website.
Travel CUTS ( 1866-246-9762; www.travelcuts.com) is Canada’s national student travel agency and has offices in all major cities.
Return to beginning of chapter
LAND
Border Crossings
Border crossings in the Middle East can be slow and it can take hours to pass through immigration and customs formalities, especially if you bring your own car. Showing patience, politeness and good humour is likely to speed up the process. For further details, Click here for