Air travel fares on the rise

Air travel fares in Europe have risen by 16 per cent since before the pandemic.

That’s according to figures released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

But despite these fares having increased, prices have remained below Europe’s rate of inflation rate of 20 per cent.

These airfares peaked early this year at more than 20 per cent – compared to the same month in 2019, decreasing slightly up to June.

Khalid Othman, our Head of Air Product said: "Clarity can report air business to, and within, Europe has increased since this time last year. Since then, there has been a 34% increase in passengers, an increase of 38% in total ticket price but only a 3% rise in average ticket price."

IATA’s director general, told Business Travel News

Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general, told Business Travel News: “European air travel is continuing to recover strongly and is on track to exceed the 2019 benchmark in 2024.

“The competitiveness of Europe’s air transport market is holding airfare inflation at 16 per cent – four percentage points below the rises that we have seen in the broad consumer price index. Considering the extreme volatility of jet fuel prices and increases in workforce salaries this is a significant achievement and stands in contrast to the continually increasing charges being pushed by our infrastructure suppliers.”

But despite these fare increases, the IATA said passenger numbers in Europe were only 3.6 per cent below 2019 levels.

We can help

Does your current air travel programme deliver measurable savings? Can you say in pounds and pence what value you have achieved through negotiated rates, changes in booking behaviours and policy controls, benchmarking, NDC and aggregation with web content?

We can measure your air travel CO2 emissions down to different aircraft types and routes and mitigate against unnecessary air travel. We can help you choose the right fare type (within policy controls) too. Get in touch to talk about how we can help you.

‍