Holidaymakers could save money by booking flights soon, as both airlines and aviation experts think prices will soar later in the year.
The price of flights is already high, even during the off-peak winter season. Ticket prices rose by 44.1 per cent in the year to December, according to the Office for National Statistics.
That is the biggest rise in airline prices for more than 30 years.
Many airlines reported business is booming, with flight sales up despite the cost of living crisis
But despite flight prices hitting historic highs and the wider cost of living crisis, Britons are still keen on booking holidays.
EasyJet said its Easter ticket yields were already up 25 per cent on 2019, before coronavirus pandemic restrictions hit airlines.
But booking flights for this year’s holidays soon might be a smart move, as prices are set to increase further over the next few months.
This week Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary said that ‘based on current booking profiles, we think that fares will rise into Easter and the summer’.
Wizz Air boss boss Jozsef Varadi last week said ‘bookings are strong’ as the firm enjoyed a surge in ticket sales.
Based on current booking profiles, we think that fares will rise into Easter and the summer
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary
Meanwhile aviation analyst John Strickland said prices were likely to rise for the next few months due to high fuel prices and airline capacity, mostly on long haul flights, is still getting back to pre-pandemic levels.
Strickland said: ‘We are seeing average prices are going up. It is evident that that trend is firmly in place. The hard evidence from airlines is for price increases even in recent winter months.
‘These price increases are not airlines trying to exploit the situation, they reflect increasing costs, like aviation fuel. Aviation fuel prices remain high, and this is around one third of airlines’ costs.
‘The other factor is capacity on long-haul flights, which has not returned to the level it was pre-Covid.’
However, the future of ticket prices beyond the next few months is harder to predict.
Strickland said: ‘We have got little idea what will happen with Ukraine, broader economies and consumers’ ability to pay. Seventy to 80 per cent of people say they put price ahead of everything else, when booking.’
