Average flight prices for October half-term have risen by 42% compared to pre-pandemic levels, according to Which?.
The company compared the average price of flights to Alicante, Antalya, Dubai, Dublin, Malaga and Tenerife from Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Stansted, Luton and Birmingham airports, and found the average cost for one-way half-term tickets was £212 in 2022, up from £150 in 2019.
Rising fuel costs, pent-up demand and airport passenger caps were blamed for the higher fares.
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The analysis looked at prices for flights six months, three months and six weeks before October half-term in 2019 and 2022.
Which? found the airport with the steepest jump in fares was Heathrow – where passengers have been capped at 100,000 a day until half-term ends on October 29 – with flights to Tenerife costing the most.
Passengers who booked a flight from Heathrow to Tenerife six weeks before their departure date paid an average of £262 more each way than in 2019 – an increase of 159%.
Heathrow to Malaga flights cost £282 in 2022 compared to £89 in 2019, an increase of £193 (216%), while Heathrow to Dublin flights were up 181% at £236.
The single largest flight price increase was from Gatwick to Dublin, where passengers who booked six weeks before half-term paid £160 in 2022 compared to £42 in 2019, an increase of 281%.
However, flights to Dublin from Luton and Stansted were available for £17 and £18, respectively, meaning flights prices fell in the past three years by more than 30% from each airport.
Which? has called for the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to be given direct fining powers so it can fine operators if they break passenger protection rules, and said it is “increasingly important” passenger rights are upheld when they are paying more for flights.
Which? Travel editor Guy Hobbs said: “Travellers have had a torrid time this year and our analysis shows they’re paying through the nose for their trouble.
“With fares so high it’s even more important that airports and airlines are held to account for the unacceptable disruption travellers have faced.
“The government should give the CAA stronger powers so it can hit operators with heavy fines when they flout the rules.”