A lull before a rise next year? In November 2023, air ticket prices fell by 1.5% compared to November 2022, all destinations and travel classes combined, according to the monthly price index (1) of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC). However, this is not enough to curb the upward trend that has begun since the beginning of inflation and the post-Covid recovery in traffic. "The cumulative increase in prices for the first 11 months of the year is 9.6%, falling below the 10% mark for the first time this year," the DGAC points out.
This decline was mainly driven by medium-haul (-2.2%) and long-haul (-3.2%) networks, mainly by Asia Pacific (-7%), Latin America (-6.2%) and the Middle East (-6.7%). Conversely, prices continued to rise (+8.7%) on domestic flights, "with a more pronounced increase again on radial routes [between Paris and the region, editor's note] compared to cross-border routes [between two cities in the region]," observes the DGAC.
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Evolution of airline ticket prices in November 2023, compared to May 2022. DGAC
The French Overseas Territories on the front line
The increase also affected flights in the direction of mainland France - Overseas (+6%), while flights in the direction of Overseas - Metropolitan France and between the French overseas departments fell for the first time in a year (-2.3%), in particular flights taking off from Mayotte (-10.8%). As a reminder, at the beginning of the year, flights to and from overseas territories were the ones that had suffered the most from the surge in prices.
But should we be happy about this? Not so much. The introduction of a tax on major airports, the growing use of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF)... All these factors mean that the French will pay more for their plane tickets in 2024. At Air France, the additional SAF cost by 2030 amounts to one billion euros. These non-fossil fuels would reduce CO² emissions by up to 80% compared to fossil fuels. Flying greener comes at a price.
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(1) 'The DGAC IPTAP is built on the basis of direct and indirect air fares recorded on 480 direct and indirect air routes (origin, destination, carrier), operated by some fifty carriers. All prices collected relate to return journeys from France (metropolitan or DOM) and include all applicable taxes, fees and surcharges, "details the website of the Ministry of Ecological Transition.
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