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Corfu, one of the most famous Greek islands, is the newest destination on offer from London Luton Airport. The flight is part of a UK-wide expansion by Monarch Airlines, which will also see a new route to Bodrum, Turkey, added at Birmingham, Manchester, and Gatwick airports from summer 2011.

In Greek mythology, Corfu was the place where the god of the sea, Poseidon, married a nymph named Korkyra, whom he had recently abducted from the mainland. The island is one of the most popular holiday destinations in the Ionian Sea, alongside Zante and Kefalonia, and apart from sun and sand is perhaps best known for its selection of museums. Corfu’s clement temperatures and forested peaks are not unique in the Eastern Mediterranean, but the island’s Venetian architecture sets it apart from Rhodes, Kos, and other destinations in the Ionian and Aegean seas.

Beginning on May 23, flights from Luton to Corfu International Airport will operate three times a week. The route from Gatwick and Birmingham to Bodrum will also begin on May 23, while the same flight from Manchester will take off on May 2 2011. Kevin George, chief at Monarch Airlines, explained that the new routes being added at four UK hubs were in response to growing customer demand. Monarch recently experienced its most lucrative January on record, experiencing growth of 24% over the same month in 2010.

Monarch, which is based at Luton Airport, says that the May 2011 expansion is separate from a capacity boost in February, which added 135,000 seats onto the carrier’s summer programme. Flights from Gatwick to Palma and Tenerife were increased by one flight per week, while three additional journeys were introduced on to the popular Gatwick-Paphos service. Similarly, at Manchester Airport, routes to Larnaca and Paphos on the island of Cyprus and the island of Tenerife were boosted by one extra weekly flight each.

Tickets for Monarch’s new route to Corfu begin at £59.99 for a one-way trip departing on May 23 2011.