ANYBODY planning to fly between Cyprus and the UK before Christmas should brace themselves for sky high fares that are more than twice the January price.
This was the unhappy discovery of one local resident who was quoted an eye-watering €2,813 for a family of three to fly economy from England to Cyprus on December 23 and back home on the January 2.
Another airline quoted approximately €2,640 to fly out on the 23 (and back on January 2) and €2,478 if they departed on December 24.
A survey of three main carriers that operate flights between Cyprus and the UK: British Airways (BA), Cyprus Airways (CY) and Easyjet showed that all three dramatically ramped up their fares in the festive season.
Some flights were more than treble the cost of a similar ticket just two weeks later.
For example a Cyprus Airways ticket from Heathrow to Larnaca on December 23 (booked a week in advance) is €348 while a ticket booked on the same day for January 7 is just €79.
Easyjet more than trebled their fare from €87 to €278 for flights on the same dates, although they remain the cheapest of the three.
So why are they charging so much? The short answer is simply because they can.
Asked about the steep price, a senior aviation industry professional said that on internal EU flights, airlines were free to set their own prices. He said: “The airlines all know how many people will travel and have yield management plans. These are standard commercial policies.”
This high demand also means that with only a week’s notice, all economy flights (however expensive) can fill up and leaving only the club or business class seats.
For example, when the same dates and route as above were entered into one of these airlines’ websites this week, the total cost for the family of three was a staggering €3,581.
An employee in the airline’s commercial department defended the practice, saying that December was high season and the price was set according to the demand. With so many passengers looking to travel at this time of year, the airlines can comfortably charge a premium rate in the knowledge that they will fill up the seats.
He explained that price fluctuations follow annual cycles, peaking in mid-summer and at Easter for example.
Asked if there was an upward trend in prices, he explained that the new routes to and from Cyprus offered by the low cost airlines like Easyjet and Ryanair have increased competition and kept prices low.
“I don’t anticipate that prices will go up by a lot, although as the cost of fuel goes up over time, prices will increase” He said.
In order to get the best deal and avoid the peak season price hikes, passengers can either book far in advance when the demand for a specific flight, and therefore the cost, are lower. Alternatively, as one airline source said, customers should ask their travel agents (or search the carrier’s websites) for short term deals.
