Flights for the upcoming autumn half term break have surged massively compared to before the pandemic, new research has found.
In the past three years the price of a plane ticket during the October holiday has risen by 42%, according to analysis of data from Skytra.
The average cost of one-way half term tickets for six popular destinations came in at £212 this year compared to £150 in 2019.
Skytra chief executive Elise Weber said rising fuel costs, pent up demand and airport passenger caps are all contributing to higher fares.
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The steepest jump in average prices was seen at Heathrow airport, where passenger numbers have been capped at 100,000 a day until the end of the school break on October 29.
Which?, which commissioned the research, compared the average price of flights to six popular destinations – Alicante, Antalya, Dubai, Dublin, Malaga and Tenerife – from England’s busiest airports: Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Stansted, Luton and Birmingham.
The analysis looked at fares at six months, three months and six weeks before the October half term in 2019 and 2022.
The largest price hike was on flights from Heathrow to Tenerife.
Passengers booking six weeks before their departure date paid an average of £262 more each way than in 2019, adding £2,096 to the cost of a holiday for a family of four.
Heathrow to Malaga flights were £282 – an increase of £193 or 216 per cent in three years.
Heathrow to Dublin was £236 on average - 181 per cent more expensive compared to the pre-pandemic price - but fares to the Irish capital varied enormously depending on the departure airport.
Which? found the cost of flights has soared from Gatwick, Manchester, Heathrow and Birmingham.
Flights from Gatwick to Dublin saw the biggest rise. Passengers who booked six weeks before half term paid £42 in 2019 and £160 in 2022 - a huge 281 per cent increase.
The review website praised Luton and Stansted for resisting price rises.
It said that the biggest bargains were snapped up by those travelling to or from Dublin, and Luton and Stansted this year.
Passengers paid just £17 and £18 each way on average, making return flights for a family of four less than £150.
The biggest saving was on flights to Tenerife, with holidaymakers who booked their tickets six months ahead paying £60 less each way, on average, than those who booked three months before.
Guy Hobbs, editor of Which? Travel, 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."
Those who want to get away but are worried about the rising cost of a holiday may want to follow the advice of Chelsea Dickenson, a budget travel expert.
With the pound very weak and slumping to levels against the dollar not seen in decades - thanks to the Conservative Party's economic plan - some destinations are more expensive now than they've been in a long time.
Chelsea advises choosing your destination wisely as the currency markets fluctuate.
"It is all about looking for those places that are super affordable against the pound, where the pound goes a little further, where accommodation is cheaper than in the UK," Chelsea explained.
"In Europe, Poland, Romania, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Lithuania. Places in central and eastern Europe."
