With Easter the phenomenon of expensive flights returns to Italy.
This was stated by the Consumer Training and Research Center (Crc) which, in collaboration with Assoutenti, analyzed the trend in air fares during the Easter holidays.
The analysis by Crc-Assoutenti on national routes examined a return flight from the main Italian cities departing on Friday 29 March and returning on Tuesday 2 April: those who purchase a return ticket to Catania airport today spend a minimum of 365 euros starting from Turin, 319 euros from Verona, 317 euros from Venice.
Cheaper to fly from Rome, where the ticket to Catania starts from 144 euros.
If instead you want to reach Palermo, for the same dates you spend 305 euros starting from the Forlì airport, 295 euros from Bologna, 288 euros from Turin, 259 euros from Milan.
It is also expensive to reach Sardinia at Easter: the ticket from Bologna to Alghero starts from 334 euros, 323 euros if you land in Cagliari;
to fly to Cagliari starting from Verona the minimum spend is 279 euros, the associations analyze.
To these figures it is then necessary to add the cost of hand luggage or the choice of seat, which significantly increase the final cost of the ticket.
Many Italians will take advantage of the holidays to go abroad and visit a European capital: in this case, leaving on the morning of March 29th and returning in the afternoon/evening of Easter Monday (April 1st), those who purchase a ticket today spend a minimum of 489 euros to fly from Rome to Amsterdam, 455 euros from Milan to Berlin, 336 euros from Rome to Madrid, 302 euros from Rome to Copenhagen, 254 euros from Milan to Barcelona.
Return ticket prices for the most popular seaside resorts are prohibitive: assuming a week's holiday, from Saturday 30 March to Saturday 6 April, 466 euros from Milan to Sharm are needed (based on the best solutions proposed by comparison sites). el-Sheikh, 749 euros from Rome to Zanzibar, 936 euros for the Maldives and even 1,166 euros for the Seychelles.
"Despite the efforts made by the government, the phenomenon of high flight prices seems without a solution, and airlines continue to impose their excessive power by resorting to algorithms that make fares skyrocket in conjunction with holiday periods and departures of citizens, without users being able to defend themselves in any way from such incorrect policies", declares Furio Truzzi, president of the Consumer Training and Research Centre.
"With these tariffs, traveling by air is increasingly becoming a luxury for the rich, a situation that undermines the concept of territorial continuity and damages not only consumers, who are forced to give up departures or cut holiday days, but also local businesses, discouraging tourism" comments the president of Assoutenti, Gabriele Melluso.
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