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European travellers are benefiting from airfares which have been rising at below the overall rate of inflation, according to figures released by airlines association IATA.
IATA said that while flight prices in Europe were 16 per cent higher in June than during the corresponding pre-Covid month in 2019 – this was still below the EU’s average inflation rate of 20 per cent over the same period.
The increase in airfares peaked in early 2023 at more than 20 per cent compared with the same month in 2019 but this dipped slightly up to June.
The association said that the latest traffic figures from Europe’s airlines showed that passenger numbers were only 3.6 per cent below 2019 levels, which showed that Europeans were “traveling despite the inflationary environment”.
Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general, said: “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 air fare 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.”
Walsh attacked the recent increase in airport charges at some of Europe’s largest hubs such as London Heathrow and Amsterdam’s Schiphol airports.
He called on authorities to apply “stronger regulation of monopoly infrastructure providers” to bring charges down, alongside a reform of the consumer protection regulation known as EU261
“The recovery of Europe’s air transport market is bringing with it even more competitive market conditions. Consumers will see that with more routes and more airlines to choose from – in total, last year saw 20 new airlines born in Europe,” added Walsh
“This is important because a more competitive air transport market will make Europe a more competitive place to do business.”
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