The holidays are approaching and many households will choose a travel destination and perhaps book plane tickets if they haven't already.
Prices could then influence the choice of destination.
The airline ticket price comparator Liligo has published a study on the evolution of ticket prices from mainland France over the past ten years.
To do this, Liligo compared the prices of 250 million ticket offers between 2010 and 2021. Which destinations have seen their prices from France drop?
Which, on the contrary, have become less accessible over time?
Le Figaro
takes stock.
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Over the past ten years, ticket prices have generally fallen.
Of the twenty most served destinations from France, seventeen have seen their price drop and three have seen it increase.
Drop in the price of flights to Europe and North America
First observation: prices are falling for tickets to major European cities, North America and the West Indies.
In a decade, ticket prices have fallen for flights to Montreal (-21%), New York (-20%), Los Angeles (-19%) and Barcelona (-15%).
Some overseas capitals are also becoming more accessible with a drop for Saint-Denis de La Réunion (-37%) and Fort-de-France (-21%).
“
This general decline is explained by the price of oil, which has been relatively low until now
,” explains Guillaume Rostand, spokesperson for Liligo.
Prices were also pulled down by the rise in power, in the 2010s, of low-cost companies which notably invested in the long-haul market.
Faced with these low-cost competitors, “
traditional companies have had to align their pricing policies
”, explains Guillaume Rostand.
Thus, the average price of a flight to Tel Aviv, which the low-cost company Transavia began to serve from France in 2014, has fallen by 43% in ten years, from 441 to 252 euros.
Similarly, while the ticket to London sold on average for 161 euros in 2010, the price has fallen to less than 79 euros in 2021, a drop of 51%.
A variation which is also explained by the desire of the companies to compete with the Eurostar, explains the spokesperson for Liligo.
The British capital thus places itself at the top of the list of destinations having experienced the largest price reductions over ten years, ahead of Corfu, in Greece (-46%), and Tel Aviv.
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In order to compensate for the low prices imposed on them, the incumbents have sometimes had to adopt low-cost commercial practices.
"
To be able to present aggressive call prices, some companies now charge for luggage separately
", analyzes Guillaume Rostand.
The final price of the trip can therefore easily exceed that displayed for sale, as for flights with Air France Hop, a subsidiary of Air France specializing in short-haul flights in Europe.
Prices for the Mediterranean basin are soaring
In fewer numbers, the destinations around the Mediterranean, on the other hand, saw the prices of their tickets soar.
Fares have climbed for Marrakech (+33%) and Istanbul (+18%) and beyond Dubai (+20%).
The list of the highest price increases is dominated by Antalya, in Turkey (+89%), Valencia (+71%) and Fez (+50%).
"
Demand exceeds supply
", deciphers Guillaume Rostand to explain these increases.
After the beginning of the events of the Arab Spring, at the beginning of the 2010s, many French holidaymakers went to these cities.
“
Antalya has become a fashionable destination and its attendance has exploded
,” explains Guillaume Rostand.
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Price increases are expected
Now, with the return of inflation and the rise in oil prices, a general increase in ticket prices is to be expected.
Liligo recalls that 25 to 40% of the price of a ticket is determined by the price of the barrel.
Due to the oil stocks accumulated by the companies, “
there will still be a delay of six to seven months between the rise in the price of a barrel and the repercussions on that of tickets
”, details Guillaume Rostand.
"
If the price of fuel is multiplied by two and it represents a third of the cost of the plane, the price of the ticket should increase by 30%
", confided to the newspaper
Le Parisien
Xavier Tytelman, consultant for Starburst and specialist in economics of the airline industry.