Airline tickets: why they cost more in Italy than in Europe

A simulation carried out by Corriere on the prices of flights departing between June and September shows a drop of 3% on European ones and a +21% on Italian flights. Calì (Confconsumatori) explains why

For those who have to buy a plane ticket there is good news and bad news. The good news is that for the first time, after a year of double-digit price increases, average flight prices on European routes have fallen. But the bad news is that our country is an exception because the costs of domestic flights continue to rise. This is what emerges from a simulation carried out by Corriere on the figures published by airlines on their websites for flights departing between June and September 2024.

After the disproportionate increases that were recorded after the Covid period, due to a mix between recovering demand and deficient supply, inflation and increase in the cost of raw materials, which led to last year’s record with price increases of 20-30% compared to 2019, a period of price stabilization begins. Luckily we are close to summer and many airlines, from low cost to “traditional” carriers, are competing to see who offers the most promotions to fill their planes. So that the Courier recorded an average drop of 3% in fares on flights within Europe in the four summer months compared to the same period last year. Of course it is still early to claim victory, but it is not excluded that prices could decrease further close to the dates.

What we certainly cannot rejoice about, however, is the price situation for Italian flights. The Corriere has detected a 7% increase in the average fare published by carriers for flights between Italy and Europe and, if we look only at domestic flights, the leap forward is 21%, with a peak of 34% in June and an increase in prices of 17-19% in the following months. It should be noted that not all of the thousands of national routes recorded an increase, but the average shows a clear plus sign. Analyzing the monthly trend of tariffs, we note that from January to September of this year only April, on flights within Italy, recorded a slight minus (-0.6%) compared to last year, most likely because Easter fell in March this year. In January the increase was 32%, while between February and March the increase was around 25%.

We have asked for an opinion on these data from the vice president of Confconsumatori, Carmelo Calì, who is also responsible for the transport sector of the Consumers’ Association.
“I believe, unfortunately, that this simulation is still lower than the real situation because I believe that these percentages are destined to grow further. Often, in fact, the examination of prices carried out in a medium-long period does not give an understanding of the real prices that the companies charge as the flight dates approach. Unfortunately, the passenger is not always able to organize in advance and there are also cases in which there are sudden commitments, work or health, for which a ticket must be purchased immediately and there the price cleaver comes into play. Furthermore, the increase noted by the Courier is compared to last year which was the worst year for flight prices. The pandemic has led to the fact that many airlines, after having laid off a large part of their staff, were unable to cope in time with a new organization to cover a growing demand, to which we were no longer accustomed. But this cannot be a justification because the companies themselves benefited from a series of measures that gave them guarantees and compensation and should have been planned in time.”

This situation, however, also concerns other European countries, why does Italy have the highest prices?
“The data on the high cost of domestic flights is very serious also because these flights are often purchased above all for work, study, health, as well as holiday reasons. Furthermore, there is another element that we must take into account because it weighs like a boulder and it is the lack of market competition. Despite what is said to the contrary, in our country companies often find themselves operating at airports practically alone. It being understood that even when there is competition, prices remain high, because the race is upwards and not downwards. The fact that we are among the most expensive countries in Europe it makes us think because it means that here companies believe they have that freedom of movement that they don’t have elsewhere, convinced they can get away with it, while in the rest of Europe they fear being punished. Furthermore, in other countries air transport is organized differently than here, despite the fact that more and more people take the plane. The infrastructure is being modernised, but it is the system that needs to be better organised”.

“Another issue not to be forgotten – adds Calì – is that of additional services: Even if companies are required to present the final price to the consumer, they continue to offer various price increase opportunities during the purchasing process. In this process you need to pay attention to the services that are worth paying for separately, such as the choice of seat or priority boarding, and those that should already be included, such as hand luggage. I have never seen a passenger leaving without any luggage, so why consider it a separate service? It is a trick to hide a raise. Finally, even when the services are optional, freely chosen by the consumer, the prices are too high and do not correspond to the real value of the service itself”.

“I want to make one final consideration about vulture algorithms: although companies deny the existence of algorithms, they are still lurking and recognizing the consumer who did a search on flight X a few minutes earlier to offer it to him at a higher cost. For this reason we recommend not leaving the company website during the search or browsing the search engine in unknown mode”.

In conclusion Calì throws another stone into the pond and it is that of upcoming price increases linked to the use of sustainable fuels. “We must reflect on this issue because there is a lot of risk we may soon find ourselves faced with the theorization of an increase resulting from an ecological choice. But the ecological choice belongs to everyone and we cannot think of placing it exclusively on the consumer.”