After two years of almost uninterrupted increases, a breath of fresh air seems to be arriving on the prices of air flights. Companies lower ticket prices and, among the so-called “low cost”, Ryanair announces growth on the Italian market and two possible new bases on the way, even if it does not give up the cuts expected on some routes. Once the Christmas and New Year holidays are over, the costs of airline tickets in our country have collapsed, to the point that for a national route in some cases one ends up spending just over 30 euros, compared to over 370 euros last December .
THE NEW RATES
The data comes from the «Centre for training and research on consumption», led by Furio Truzzi, also president of Assoutenti. The largest increases in recent months have concerned routes to and from the islands, Sicily and Sardinia, with the dispute between low-cost airlines and the Italian government after the mini-squeeze of the Asset decree. And, despite the sharp drop in inflation and the cost of fuel, tickets returned to record prices at Christmas, with increases compared to the November price list of up to 1,260%, even exceeding 300 euros per ticket.
Ryanair lowers flight prices: the move after Booking’s decision to exclude it from the booking portal
Who last month wanted to fly with solo ticket on the outward journey, to spend Christmas with the family, leaving on 23 December, he found himself spending a minimum of 379 euros to fly from Venice to Cagliari, 358 euros from Bologna to Cagliari and 353 euros from Bologna to Palermo. To get to Catania, starting from Genoa, the minimum expense was 340 euros, which dropped to 335 euros if you went to Palermo, while 328 euros was the cost of the Venice-Palermo flight. Again for Palermo, but starting from Rome, no less than 143 euros were spent, 204 euros from Milan.
Now the fares have suffered a collapse: for the Bologna-Palermo route, starting on February 10, the one-way ticket costs 31 euros, with a decrease of 91.2% compared to December. To go from Genoa to Palermo, 52 euros are therefore enough, with a reduction in fares of 84.5% compared to December. And again: for Bologna-Cagliari the price starts from a minimum of 62 euros (-82.7%), while the cost of the ticket for Venice-Palermo is reduced by 79.2%. Strong reductions also for the Genoa-Catania (-69.7%) and Venice-Cagliari (-62.5%) routes, while flying between Rome or Milan and the islands ranges from 20 to 60 euros each way.
THE ANTITRUST INVESTIGATION
«The increases in airfares caused by algorithms and dynamic pricing systems – according to Truzzi – have doped the sector, with direct consequences on consumers’ pockets». In 2023, in fact, domestic flight tickets experienced an average annual increase of 37.8%, an increase in addition to the 20% recorded in 2022, worsening Italians’ spending on travel. «We confidently await – concludes Truzzi – the results of the investigation opened by the Antitrust (after the one closed with no results on the Christmas 2022 flight price) into the algorithms used by airlines, to understand whether these tools are legitimate or whether, on the contrary, they represent an unfair practice to the detriment of consumers.”
Investigation that also concerns Ryaniar, which had already announced the first price cuts after the exclusion of its flights from some web booking platforms such as Booking, Kiwi and Kayak. This year the company expects to grow by at least 10% in Italy, despite the reduced availability of planes due to delays in deliveries of the 737 Max by Boeing. The low-cost company is negotiating to open two more bases in our country (where last year it transported 60 million passengers) from which it can depart and arrive. They will be added to the existing 17. CEO Michael O’Leary then expressed his appreciation for Lufthansa’s proposal to the EU Commission to dispose of the extra slots at Linate to speed up the decision on the operation with Ita Airways. So the new request to the government and local authorities: lower the municipal surcharge on boarding fees at airports. Thus, adds O’Leary, cryptic, “we could grow more in Italy”, speaking of a “boom in flights and tourism” in Friuli after the Region decided to absorb the surcharge.
Ryanair then announced 48 new routes for the summer, of which 7 will concern Italy (involving Rome-Fiumicino, Bari, Pisa and Brindisi), but does not give up on cutting or reducing some routes. After the adjustments to flights to and from Sardinia and Sicily, the routes: Bergamo-Aqaba, Palermo-Treviso and Turin-Wroclaw have been removed from the site.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Read the full article at
The messenger