This, says BA, “relieves pressure on our flying programme and allows us to provide our customers with a more robust flight schedule”.The airline says the reductions are “on a small number of our routes which have a large number of daily flights from London”.European flights to Amsterdam, Brussels and Copenhagen have been cut, as have some trips to and from Glasgow, Edinburgh and Manchester. The flights represent the first-ever scheduled service between the UK and Crete. The twice-weekly flight (Tuesdays and Fridays) will take off on 3 May 2005, and operate until 11 October. Heraklion airport is within easy reach of Knossos, the legendary home of Midas. You need not be too rich to take the new flight: when it goes on sale through British Airways (0870 950 8950; ), fares will start at a reasonable £129.Warning of the week: BA cancellations”Prudent”: that is British Airways’ explanation for its decision to cancel dozens of flights over the next few months. Just when it seemed the London-Sydney route could not take any more competition, 10 more weekly options turn up: Virgin Atlantic is to start daily flights on the route, from Heathrow via Hong Kong, on 7 December.

Bargain of the week: Hong Kong, with Australia’s airline
Just when it seemed the London-Sydney route could not take any more competition, 10 more weekly options turn up: Virgin Atlantic is to start daily flights on the route, from Heathrow via Hong Kong, on 7 December.In return Qantas has been given the right to fly Heathrow-Hong Kong-Sydney three times a week. He believes there is money to be made from his airline’s new link from Gatwick to Heraklion, on the Greek island of Crete. To fill the London-Hong Kong part of the operation, the Australian airline (08457 747 767; ) has come in with an extremely low fare, £415 return, if you book within the next 10 days and adhere to some pretty strict travel dates for the outbound leg: the first week and the last week of December, plus 9 February to 16 March and 1 May to 17 June.It is possible that discount travel agents will undercut these fares further, and there is also likely to be a response from the existing airlines on the route: Virgin Atlantic, Cathay Pacific and BA.Destination of the week: Crete, from next summer John Patterson, boss of GB Airways, is hoping to demonstrate the Midas touch. Michael Winner’s autobiography: ‘Winner Takes All: A Life of Sorts’ is published in hardback by Robson Books on 21 September, priced £16.99. It’s still a very easy place to be and I feel secure there.Where are you going next?My next trip may well be to Villa Feltrinelli in Lake Garda if I have time, otherwise it’s a book tour of England to publicise my autobiography. It had a dreadful manager, dreadful food and dreadful service.And the best?La Reserve de Beaulieu, which is on the bay in Beaulieu on the Cote d’Azur. The area is unspoilt, the view is beautiful and the food is superb.What is the first thing you do when you arrive somewhere new?If it’s hot I go straight to the pool or to the beach.

I don’t really have anything to unpack because I hardly take any clothes, I just want to get straight into the holiday.Where would you go on your dream trip?I keep thinking that I should go to India, as it’s somewhere that I have never been.Where is your favourite city?I don’t really like cities, they are all repulsive. Paris is so overcrowded and I was disappointed by Rome because there wasn’t as much of it as I thought there would be London is the only city that I have great admiration for. A car journey with the roof down through England is also very pleasant.What has been your worst travel experience?A long weekend in Biarritz It was a terrible hotel Biarritz itself was hideous It’s the only dud trip I’ve ever taken. It was about a year ago when I was capable of avoiding such things.Where is the worst hotel you’ve stayed in? The Hotel du Palais in Biarritz.

I like Barbados, but it’s now so built up.Is it better to travel or arrive?With a private plane the holiday starts the minute you step on the aircraft. He was a very amusing man and very inquisitive.Are you a beach bum, culture vulture or adrenalin junkie?I was a culture vulture, but I have become more of a beach bum. If I am in Rome I’ll go to the galleries, but it depends where you are.What is your greatest travel luxury?Private planes. You have to take a deep breath and say “I could go to Nice on easyJet for £100 or take a private plane for £15,000″.Where has seduced you?Parts of Italy such as Portofino are very unspoilt. I remember a B&B there – the owner’s mother made the greatest Bakewell tart.Who would be your ideal travel companion?Marlon Brando, who I did travel with. I stepped onto the balcony and gasped, because I was so staggered by the view – that’s the only time that has ever happened to me.Where have you had your best holiday?An Orient Express cruise five or six years ago along the River Ayeyarwady in Burma.It has remained unchanged for centuries; beautiful temples, stunning scenery and incredible people.Where is your favourite place in the British Isles?London The Peak District is also staggering. Mark Haddon”It changed the way I look at people with learning disabilities.