Low-cost airlines, which currently represent 68.5% of the number of seats available on flights to and from Spain, are increasing flight prices for the 2024 summer season, based on an analysis by Mabrian, the global travel intelligence company.
Although average prices on conventional airlines continue to be higher, the price increase is greater on low-cost airlines: This represents a change in the global trend detected between 2021 and 2023, when traditional airline fares increased by 40% – while low-cost tickets increased by 6%, increasing air ticket prices.
The data corresponds to the interannual variation in published prices for flights between June 1 and September 15, 2024, both for flights to Spain from its five main source markets by air capacity (United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France and the Netherlands ), as well as the five favorite destinations of Spanish travelers (Portugal, Italy, France, United Kingdom, Germany). Overall, flight fares from Spain’s top five source markets increased by 26%, and rose 27% for flights to Spaniards’ favorite destinations.
Spain ends up being the favorite destination for Europeans in the summer, who seek out historic cities such as Barcelona as well as the party islands of Ibiza, Mallorca and the Canary Islands, known for their paradisiacal beauty and also for great electronic music parties with the biggest DJs in the world.
The relevance of the participation of low-cost airlines in the Spanish market and its impact on prices is reflected in Mabrian data. Thus, low-cost air capacity represents 68.5% of the total, which is equivalent to 37.61 million seats, compared to the 17.33 million operated by conventional airlines, and in addition, they are growing faster. Compared to 2023, the total number of airline seats managed by low-cost airlines in the Spanish market increased by 11.1% (4.1% in the case of conventional airlines); and since 2019, this increase has been 8.9% (9.3% in traditional companies).
Low-cost flights to and from the UK, fares that rise the most
Of the five markets analyzed, prices fell in only two of them compared to the previous year: Italy (-5.4%, average price: €105 euros) and France (-6.8%, average price: €124). Fares increased in the United Kingdom (+31.3%), the fastest growing market, with an average price of €210; in Germany (+5.1%, average price: €187), and in the Netherlands (+7.3%, average price: €176).
Low-cost airline flights drive price increases in the United Kingdom (+42.2%, with an average price of €182, an increase of 11.3% for conventional airlines), and also in Germany (+12 .4% to €163, compared to the 0.4% decrease in average fares for conventional airlines). The Netherlands is the only market studied in which average prices for both conventional airlines (10.4%, €255) and low-cost airlines (7.4%, €146) increase. In the cases of Italy and France, although average fares increase on low-cost seats (+18.3% and +19.5%, respectively), the reduction in prices on regular Italian lines of 39.3% and 13% .1% in French, pushing average rates down.
For flights departing from Spanish airports, low-cost seat prices to the UK, Germany and France are behind increases of +30.4%, +5.3% and +0.8% in these markets. Fare increases are particularly notable on low-cost routes to the UK (+38.4%), France (+22.2%) and Germany (+12.3%). On the other hand, in Italy, despite the +19.5% increase in average prices for low-cost flights, the -37.1% reduction in average prices for traditional airlines reduces average fares by -1.9% of connectivity between Spain and Italy. Only in the case of flights to Portugal, one of the Spaniards’ favorite destinations, fares increased +4.5%, reflected both in traditional airlines (+1.5%, €138) and low cost airlines (+10.5% , €84).
As Carlos Cendra Cruz, Director of Marketing and Communications at Mabrian, explained: “The increases in average flight prices that we are observing reflect, on the one hand, the increase in airline operating costs; as well as the growing demand to and from Spain for this summer season. There is still room to adjust these fares on these traditionally summer routes, as we are dealing with dynamic prices that will vary in the coming weeks, in response to demand behavior.”
