October half-term flights are 42% more expensive than they were pre-pandemic.
Research by Which? has found that the average cost of fares for six popular half-term destinations was £212 this year compared with £150 in 2019, according to data from the airfares analyst Skytra.
When we compared the cost of flying to six holiday destinations from England’s busiest airports, we found that many routes were considerably pricier than in 2019 – and the cost of Heathrow flights has soared since mid-July, when the airport introduced a passenger cap.
Holidaymakers who booked three months or six weeks before half term paid more for flights to five out of the six destinations: Alicante, Antalya, Dubai, Malaga and Tenerife. Fares to Tenerife had risen the most. Travellers who booked tickets to the Canary Island from Birmingham, Manchester, Gatwick and Heathrow airports paid more than double pre-pandemic prices. The biggest price hike was on a flight from Heathrow to Tenerife: passengers booking six weeks before their departure date paid £262 more each way, adding £2,096 to the cost of a holiday for a family of four.
Elise Weber, Skytra chief executive, told Which?: 'Holidaymakers travelling from London airports to popular family destinations, such as Tenerife and Malaga, have been hit particularly hard – with rising fuel costs, pent-up demand and airport passenger caps all contributing to higher fares.'
Which airport has seen the biggest price increases?
The Heathrow routes we looked at have rocketed in price since it capped the number of passengers departing daily at 100,000 in July. The cap was introduced after a shortage of ground staff resulted in long queues and flight delays, and has been extended until 29 October 2022.
In 2019, the average price of a Heathrow to Malaga half-term flight was £89 if booking six weeks in advance. This year it was £282, which is an increase of £193. The average fare between Britain’s biggest airport and Dublin was 181% more expensive compared with the pre-pandemic price – it’s now £236 each way.
Heathrow only has direct flights to four of the six destinations that we compared: Malaga, Dublin, Tenerife and Dubai. Fares for all of them were at least £100 more expensive if passengers booked three months ahead and at least £150 more expensive if passengers booked six weeks ahead, compared with 2019 prices.
Heathrow and Gatwick compared
| Average price, booking six weeks before October half term | Alicante, Spain | Antalya, Turkey | Dubai, UAE | Dublin, Ireland | Malaga, Spain | Tenerife, Canaries |
| Gatwick 2019 | £61 | £153 | £455 | £42 | £65 | £110 |
| Gatwick 2022 | £94 | £261 | £541 | £160 | £101 | £258 |
| Percentage increase Gatwick | 54% | 71% | 19% | 281% | 55% | 133% |
| Heathrow 2019 | n/a | n/a | £603 | £84 | £89 | £165 |
| Heathrow 2022 | n/a | n/a | £847 | £236 | £282 | £427 |
| Percentage increase Heathrow | n/a | n/a | 40% | 181% | 216% | 159% |
Did the passenger cap cause prices to soar at Heathrow?
It's impossible to say whether the cap directly caused an increase in prices. A spokesperson for the airport told us that they didn't think it had any effect. They argued that other factors such as staffing, fuel costs, as well as demand for flights and high inflation were more important.
They also pointed out that fares are set by airlines - not the airport. However, it is true that prices increased at Heathrow much more than they did at the other airports we looked at after the cap was introduced. There were much larger jumps in price at Heathrow from 20 April 2022 to 20 July 2022 - the week after the cap was introduced - than there were at other airports.
Heathrow's spokesperson said: ‘Heathrow doesn’t stand to benefit from increased ticket prices this coming half term.’ They also said that, while airlines are free to alter fares to maximise profits, Heathrow’s yield from each passenger is fixed by the regulator.
When’s the best time to book flights?
Early birds usually bagged the best prices this year. The average price for flights between Malaga, Alicante, Antalya, Dubai and Tenerife and all the England airports were cheaper if booked six months before half term, compared with booking six weeks before. The only exceptions were flights between Stansted and Spain, and Birmingham and Antalya, which were slightly cheaper if booked six weeks ahead instead.
The biggest saving was on flights to Tenerife. Holidaymakers who booked their tickets six months ahead paid £60 less each way, on average, than those who booked three months before – adding £480 to the cost of flights for a family of four.
Where’s the cheapest destination for last-minute holidaymakers?
It’s still possible to find cheap flights for October half term, especially if you can be flexible about which airport you fly from. Holidaymakers who bought flights to Malaga and Alicante in early September got a good deal if they booked from Luton and Stansted. The average price of fares to both Spanish cities was less than £60 each way.
Out of the six destinations that we compared, Dublin was the cheapest overall this year, but fares varied enormously depending on your departure airport. The cost of flights has skyrocketed for passengers who choose to fly from Birmingham, Gatwick, Heathrow or Manchester. The biggest hike was for fares between Gatwick and Dublin: passengers who booked six weeks before half term paid £42 in 2019 and £160 in 2022, which is a huge 278% increase. Yet travellers who booked flights to or from Luton and Stansted this year paid just £17 and £18 each way, making return flights for a family of four less than £150
How we crunched the numbers
We compared the average price of flights to six popular destinations – Alicante, Antalya, Dubai, Dublin, Malaga and Tenerife – from England’s busiest airports: Birmingham, Gatwick, Heathrow, Luton, Manchester and Stansted.
Airfares analyst Skytra gave us the average price of fares six months, three months and six weeks before October half term in 2019, and again for this year. Each price is the average of outbound and inbound fares between the UK airport and the holiday destination.
Heathrow only has direct flights to four of the destinations that we compared, while Luton has flights to five of them. Birmingham, Gatwick, Manchester and Stansted have direct flights to all six destinations.
source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/autumn-half-term-flights-42-more-expensive-than-pre-pandemic-asUtz8r6Kn3m