News, Tips & Bargains : New Air Service to Fort Lauderdale

Carnival Air Lines will debut the only nonstop service between Los Angeles International Airport and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida on Jan. 19. Introductory fares start at $199 each way. Stand-by first-class upgrades are $99 if available at check-in.

Flights, operating daily except Tuesdays and Wednesdays, will depart Los Angeles at 11 p.m., arriving in Fort Lauderdale at 7 the following morning. Flights from Fort Lauderdale to Los Angeles will depart at 12:30 p.m. and arrive at 3:05 p.m. The route will be served by an Airbus A-300, accommodating 230 passengers in coach and 24 in first class.

Carnival Air Lines, based in Fort Lauderdale, is the largest scheduled passenger airline headquartered in Florida. The carrier operates 22 aircraft with scheduled service between the Northeast, Florida, California and the Caribbean.

For additional information or reservations, contact a local travel agent or call (800) 824-7386.

‘Le Shuttle’ Begins Chunnel Service

Operators of the Channel Tunnel are offering introductory fares starting at about $80 for round-trip train journeys that take cars under the sea between England and France.

The so-called “Le Shuttle” service, which began just before Christmas, takes about 35 minutes, about 40 minutes faster than the average ferry crossing.

A same-day round trip costs about $80 for a carload of people, while a five-day return ticket is about $120, Eurotunnel said. A round trip with no time restrictions is $220. The fares, which Eurotunnel describes as a “special promotion,” will apply until March, when new prices for the peak summer season will be announced.

Meanwhile, Eurostar, the high-speed train service from London to Paris through the Channel Tunnel, will start running four times a day in early January, doubling the frequency of runs, the company said last week.

Eurostar, which began service Nov. 14, said it also will run a fifth train on Fridays. High-speed service from London to Brussels will increase from two to three a day. The London-Paris trip takes three hours, and the London-Brussels trip three hours and 15 minutes.