Budget Airlines to Raise Air Ticket Costs to Spanish Destinations

According to research by the global travel intelligence business Mabrian, low-cost air ticket costs, which presently account for 68.5% of the number of seats available on flights from and to any Spanish destinations, are driving up ticket rates for the summer of 2024. The price increase on budget flights is more than the average price increase on conventional airlines, even though both types of airlines’ rates have increased by 40% and 6%, respectively, between 2021 and 2023. This indicates a change in the global trend.

The data pertains to the interannual variation in prices reported for flights from the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France, and the Netherlands to Spain and to the five most popular destinations for Spanish tourists, which are Portugal, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, and Germany. The flights were scheduled to depart from Spain between June 1 and September 15, 2024. The average increase in flight prices from Spain’s five primary source markets was 26%, while the price increases for flights to popular Spanish destinations were 27%.

Mabrian’s data illustrates the importance of budget airline share for the Spanish market and how it affects prices. Thus, compared to the 17.33 million seats operated by traditional airlines, budget airlines account for 68.5% of the total or 37.61 million seats, and they are growing at a quicker rate. In the Spanish market, the total number of seats operated by budget airlines has climbed by 11.1%, While it was 4.1% for conventional airlines, compared to 2023; since 2019, this increase has been 8.9%, While it was 9.3% for traditional companies.

Carlos Cendra Cruz, Director of Marketing and Communication at Mabrian, explained it by saying, “The increases in average flight prices we are observing reflects, on the one hand, the rising operational costs of airlines; as well as the growing demand to and from Spain for this summer season. There is still room for adjustment for these rates on these traditional summer routes since we are dealing with dynamic prices that will vary over the coming weeks, responding to the behaviour of demand.”

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