The price of air fares across Europe, as well as other related air transport costs, has fluctuated ‘significantly’ since January 2025, new data from Eurostat has revealed.
‘This volatility reflects travel demand, seasonality and recent geopolitical events,’ the statistics body noted.
Price fluctuations
Having recorded annual price increases through much of 2025, air fares fell at the beginning of 2026 before rebounding in February and March.
Prices then declined sharply in April, falling 4.7% compared with the same month a year earlier, before increasing again by 8.1% in May and 3.1% in June.
The largest annual increase during the period covered by the data occurred in April 2025, when air transport prices were 13.7% higher than a year earlier.
International fares
Variations in international air transport were the main driver of price fluctuations, Eurostat said, with prices tending to fall more sharply than domestic fares during weaker travel periods while also recording stronger increases during periods of high demand.
International air fares rose by 14.1% year on year in April 2025 and by 8.7% in May 2026.
In June 2026, international flight prices increased by 4.5% compared with June 2025, while domestic air fares rose by 2%.
Country by country
On a country-by-country basis, Belgium recorded the largest annual increases during the April to June period, with air transport prices rising by 41.5% in April, 33.8% in May and 28.7% in June compared with the same months in 2025, although the pace of growth slowed over the three-month period.
At the other end of the scale, Slovakia experienced the steepest declines, with air fares falling by 53% in April, 48.2% in May and 45.1% in June on an annual basis.
Most EU countries followed a similar pattern of falling prices in April before experiencing renewed increases in May. In June, Austria recorded one of the strongest annual increases, with prices up 22.3%, followed by Greece at 15.1%.
By contrast, Hungary and Poland were among the countries to register the largest annual declines in June, with air transport prices falling by 13.6% and 13.1% respectively. Read more here.
