Australians face 50% hike in air fares to fly to Europe this year, data suggests

Australians looking to escape winter and fly to Europe for a summer holiday are facing fares almost 50% higher than the same period last year as airlines keep prices high despite the supply of available seats and fuel prices improving in recent months. The average price for a return economy air fare from Australian cities to European destinations such as London, Paris and Milan for travel between the beginning of June and end of September has grown to $2,571, according to data compiled by booking site Kayak.com.au from searches made since early January up to last week. The figures mark a 46% increase on average air fares for the European summer in 2022, and are 63% above comparable pre-pandemic fares. Soaring air fares are more pronounced in certain months. Return economy tickets between Australia and Europe in June are averaging $2,841. Across the June to September period, Frankfurt is the cheapest European city to fly to, with an average return fare of $2,371, while Lisbon is the most expensive with an average return ticket at $2,963, according to the Kayak booking data. David Beirman, an adjunct fellow at the University of Technology Sydney specialising in tourism, said the considerable increase in fares since 2022 should not come as a surprise. “Airlines for a long time were making next to no money on international flights, especially for economy passengers.” Beirman said most carriers were still working to financially recover from the steep losses of Covid, even if some such as Qantas have been posting record profits of late. “Those two years of lost revenue is what consumers are paying for now.” He added that airlines did not have much in terms of cash reserves and that “Covid was an extreme lesson” in what could happen when things go wrong.<br/>