Holidaymakers face 25% hike in fares as cost of jet fuel soars

HOLIDAYMAKERS face a 25 per cent rise in air fares this summer due to the surging cost of jet fuel.

International fares will go up by an average of 5 per cent each month until June, with the most significant rises between now and March, according to travel app booking company Hopper.

Analysis by The Mail on Sunday found that a 25 per cent rise would increase the average price of a return trip from London to Orlando – home of Walt Disney’s Magic

Kingdom theme park – in early August from £918 to £1,148.

A family of four travelling from London to Majorca during the August school holidays would pay £600 for flights – an extra £120.

Record oil prices have led to the average barrel of jet fuel rising 68 per cent over the past 12 months.

Independent aviation consultant

Chris Smith said: ‘The fuel price will wash directly through. If it goes up, then airlines will pass that on to the consumer.’

But he said this was unlikely to deter Covid-weary passengers. ‘People who would normally go on holiday three or four times a year haven’t been able to go,’ he said. ‘They will want to resume normal operations as soon as they can.’

Larger airlines, such as British Airways, typically agree a fixed price for much of their fuel in advance. However, the recent spikes have been so large and sustained that they are likely to be left with little choice but to pass these costs on to passengers.

Former BA chief Willie Walsh, who is now director-general of the International Air Transport Association, said it was ‘unlikely most airlines will have significant hedging in place to protect them against this increase in the oil prices’.

Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said this month that air fares for this year’s summer rebound would be significantly higher than pre-Covid prices for the same period in 2019. The rises will cause dismay to households already battling increased bills for everything from energy to food.

John Strickland, of consultancy JLS, said airlines would be wary of charging hard-pressed passengers too much. He said the ‘fragile recovery and competition would make it difficult for airlines to pass it on to the customer’.