Half-term airfares from England’s six busiest airports are up by an average of 42% on pre-COVID levels.
According to Which? Travel, fares from Heathrow to popular destinations such as Tenerife, Dublin and Malaga are up 159%, 181% and 216% since 2019.
The consumer watchdog also found that a family of four booking six weeks in advance have paid £2,096 more for return flights from Heathrow to Tenerife in 2022 than in 2019.
Which? compared the average price of flights to six popular destinations – Alicante, Antalya, Dubai, Dublin, Malaga and Tenerife from England’s busiest airports: Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Stansted, Luton and Birmingham. Which? Looked at fares six months, three months and six weeks before the October half-term in 2019 and 2022.
The steepest jump in average prices was seen at Heathrow, where numbers have been capped at 100,000 a day until the end of the half-term break.
Guy Hobbs, Editor of Which? Travel said: “Travellers have had a torrid time this year and our analysis shows they’re paying through the nose for their trouble.”
Skytra Chief Executive Elise Weber said: “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.”
