Budget Airlines Cost UK Families on Average £29 More per Seat than Non-Budget Carriers
Once all the hidden surcharges for baggage, seat reservations, priority boarding and administrative services were included to the total price based on the study’s travel conditions, a proper price comparison for families was possible. The six non-budget carriers in the study offered prices that were on average £87 less per booking than the budget airlines.
Of the routes studied, the budget airlines only resulted in the cheapest price for one: London - Alicante. From London to Berlin, British Airways and Lufthansa offered direct flights which were £51 cheaper per seat than the Ryanair and EasyJet. From London to Barcelona, British Airways offered a direct flight that was £47 less expensive per seat than EasyJet.
The prices from Ryanair and EasyJet were also the least transparent of the four low-cost carriers in the research. When comparing the cost per seat found on flight search engines with the ‘real cost’ per seat in our study, the ‘real cost’ was 92% more expensive for EasyJet and 166% more expensive for Ryanair.
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GATE8 Press Team