Wednesday 28 September 2022 03:26 PM Travel experts predict plunging Pound will spark boom in foreign visitors trends now
By Ryan Hooper for the Daily Mail
The cost of escaping Britain for sunnier climes this October half-term has soared, with some flights to hotspots now hundreds of pounds more than pre-pandemic levels, according to a study.
Some one-way flights are now more than three times their price in 2019, according to analysis of the six busiest airports in England and the six most popular holiday destinations by the Which? consumer champion.
They found flights from Birmingham, Gatwick, Heathrow, Luton, Manchester and Stansted to Alicante, Antalya, Dubai, Dublin, Malaga and Tenerife were on average 42 per cent more expensive than three years ago – up from £150 to £212.
Their findings were based on data by industry firm Skytra, who looked at the price of one-way journeys between the domestic and foreign airports, booked with six months, three months and six weeks to go respectively before the start of the autumn break.
For example, the cost of a one-way flight from Gatwick to Dublin, booked six weeks before the October half-term, increased by around 280 per cent – up from £42 three years ago to £160 now.
A flight from Manchester to Dublin increased by more than 230 per cent, from £45 to £149. Skytra chief executive Elise Weber said rising fuel costs, pent-up demand for travel emerging from the pandemic and airport passenger caps are all contributing to higher fares.
Guy Hobbs, Editor of Which? Travel, said:
