You have probably noticed that if you have booked a flight in recent months, plane tickets have become more expensive. And it’s not about to stop. The latest Passenger Air Transport Price Index (IPTAP) (1) developed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) confirms a price increase of 20.4% between September 2021 and September 2022, all destinations combined. There are differences depending on the destination. It is less strong on long-haul routes (13%) and affects Asia-Pacific routes more than North America. On the other hand, it is more stable in medium-haul international flights (23.6%), a trend mainly driven by low-cost carriers, DGAC said. This is enough to confirm the end of €10 tickets that Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary announced this summer.
Foreign departments were especially affected
The strongest increase refers to flights departing from foreign departments (Guadeloupe, Guyana, Réunion, Martinique and Mayotte) with an increase of +32.2%. It especially affects Reunion with +42.3%.
Flying today is generally more expensive than before the Covid-19 pandemic. “Compared to September 2019, ticket prices to France, all destinations combined, have increased by 21.0 percent,” the report says. A trend that is also being noticed by flight comparators. In September 2022 “The average cost of air tickets (return dry flight) increased by 28% compared to the same period of 2019.Frédéric Pilloud, MisterFly’s director of marketing and e-commerce, told Le Figaro recently.
Several factors explain this phenomenon: the increase in oil prices (fuel, which represents 30% of the ticket price), the decline in business class classes, which punishes the profitability of flights, and the increase in travel time from one to two hours to some countries. Asian destinations related to Russia’s flight ban. Not to mention the strong demand that took the aviation sector by surprise. witness the chaos that has affected some European airports this summer due to staff shortages.
Be flexible in your travel dates, favor mid-week departures, fly from a secondary airport… A few tips allow you to pay less for your flight and thus avoid a general increase in prices. If you live in France Abroad, you can benefit from assistance for territorial continuity (ACT) once every three years, according to means. This is a voucher worth between €270 and €440, valid on a return economy class plane ticket from France Abroad to mainland France.
(1) Methodology. “IPTAP DGAC is built on over 400 direct and indirect airline tickets registered (origin, destination, carrier) provided by over sixty carriers. All prices collected are for tours from France (mainland or DOM) and include all applicable taxes, duties and surcharges,” the Ministry of Ecological Transition website details.
Source: Le Figaro
