2023-04-21 10:33:09
Airline ticket prices to Europe and across Europe are increasing by 15-50% for summer travel, due to low supply and incredibly high demand.
Michael O’Learychief executive of Ryanair, one of Europe’s biggest airlines, said prices would rise by 15%, while travel booking website Kayak said flights between European and Australian destinations had increased 50% off for summer vacation.
Michael O’Leary told the Telegraph that average fares in Europe had increased by 20% in 2022 and that this summer he expected fares to rise once more to an almost equivalent level.
The reason for this is that airlines currently have fewer seats available than before the pandemic and everyone is looking to get away. This trend has been dubbed revenge travel (revenge trip), as people are planning longer trips in the summer of 2023 to compensate for vacations they weren’t able to take during lockdown or last year, due to strikes and cancellations.
This situation has been aggravated by the fact that some airlines have gone out of business (such as Flybe), others have canceled planned growth (Eurowings) and still others have not regained full capacity. (such as ITA in Italy and TAP in Portugal, both of which operate at 50% of their capacity before the Kosovo crisis).
For anyone wishing to travel between Australia and European cities, the situation is worse: for the period from June to the end of September, the cost of a return flight amounts to 2,571 dollars. THE Guardian reports that this represents a 46% increase compared to the same period last year and a staggering 63% increase compared to comparable trips before the pandemic. Data from Kayak.com.au shows that Frankfurt is a slightly cheaper destination from Australia and Lisbon is the most expensive.
David Beirman, a lecturer at the University of Technology Sydney and a tourism specialist, is not surprised by the larger sums demanded by airlines to make the same trip as before companies were grounded during the pandemic and might not make any money, so they used the minimal cash reserves they had. Now they have to charge a lot more to make up for the two years of lost revenue.
Another factor is that many airlines used to sell many business class seats which allowed economy class passengers to pay less: one business class traveler can be worth as much as six or eight economy class travellers. However, as business class has still not resumed since the pandemic, airlines must raise their prices for normal holidaymakers.
With the cost of living crisis currently affecting many people, this measure would put considerable pressure on the average family wishing to get away. David Beirman adds that vacations that were once within the reach of middle-class families are now only available to the more affluent elite, people on essential trips or those who want or need to see loved ones. In Europe, a family of four can be forced to pay up to 125 dollars for a plane ticket, which represents a considerable increase compared to last year.
If we add to this the cost of inflation in the destination countries and the increase in the price of a cocktail due to the increase in alcohol and energy costs for the hotel, some people may have to rethink their summer vacation plans entirely.
Article translated from Forbes US – Author: Alex Ledsom
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