(Teleborsa) – Also this year, in view of the summer holidays, Altroconsumo monitored the increases relating to “low cost” flights when added to the initial prices i extra costs for trolleys, checked baggage and seat selection, which can increase the price also by 363%, that is, the maximum percentage increase found in the survey of five low-cost airlines.
Altroconsumo has in fact selected six return flights for each company considered (easyJet, Ryanair, Volotea, Vueling and Wizz Air) when possible (for a total of 58 flights), with departures from Milan and Rome for national and international tourist and holiday destinations Europeans. The costs of the most common additional services can be equal to almost four times the initial ticket price, as in the worst case of Wizz Air, where the initial price of the flight was 24.99 euros, the final price was 115.69 euros, with an increase in spending of 363%. Even for easyJet and Vueling, the extra costs represent over 300% of the initially proposed cost.
As far as Ryanair is concerned, the maximum costs of additional services are very substantial: they are worth more than three times the initial price, going from 14.99 euros to a final price, including the three added items, equal to 54.33 euros, the expense it therefore increased by 262%. The maximum impact of extra costs for Volotea is more limited, however equal to almost three times the cost of the ticket initially proposed (from 51.39 euros to a final price of 145.39 euros, 183% more).
Compared to the Altroconsumo investigation by last year (even on different flights), the maximum increase detected is lower: in 2023 it was 465%, this year 363%. This reduction can be explained by the fact that, this year, the initial flight prices were higher than those found last year and therefore, for this reason, the weight of the extra costs has been reduced.
The investigation also shows that Checked baggage costs have seen the most significant increase and that for fixed costs, however, among the noteworthy increases, there are those for oversized hand luggage: for example, for Vueling the maximum penalty has gone from 35 euros to 75 euros and Wizz Air from 25 to 55 euros, more than double in both cases. Altroconsumo therefore intends to intervene in this situation protect consumers’ right to travel with hand luggage, without additional costs.
The surveys were carried out in May 2024. For each route Altroconsumo searched for a return flight at the cheapest possible price between 21 June and 7 July 2024. For each flight the purchase process was followed up until payment to detect the costs under investigation, without then proceeding with the purchase of the ticket.
