Easter falls this year “in a climate of strong political and economic tensions” and it will be more difficult this year to cross national borders: on the one hand due to the conflicts that undermine geopolitical stability and security, on the other due to costs, which especially in terms of flights have reached truly impressive peaks. Like every year, the national Federconsumatori Observatory monitored the costs of travel by train, bus and plane during the Easter holidays, also making a comparison with 2025.
According to initial estimates, one family in seven (equal to approximately 3.8 million families) will choose to spend Easter away from home. Of these, over 96% will remain in Italy, taking advantage of the hospitality of friends and relatives, or choosing low cost solutions in B&Bs, farmhouses or rented apartments.
Traveling will mainly be students and off-site workers who will return home to celebrate with friends and relatives. But, like every year, those who plan to travel will have to deal with sharp increases in the costs of tickets and petrol. Many, in fact, will choose to travel by car, however, compared to Easter 2025, they will spend around 4% more on petrol and 26% more on diesel, despite the cut in excise duties completely eroded by increases and speculative phenomena. But there is no shortage of increases also for those who choose to travel differently: in comparison with 2025, at Easter, flight costs for the monitored routes increased on average by 23%, with peaks of over 80% (Milan – London) and 73% (Milan – Paris). Over the period, traveling by train costs +11% compared to 2025.
Price increases everywhere: even on bus journeys. The Rome-Cosenza route records a 112% higher fare
But the biggest differences, as every year, are found between the costs of tickets during the holidays and those applied in the periods immediately preceding: the Observatory has updated the usual study, comparing the prices for a trip over the Easter weekend with those of an ordinary weekend in March. The results confirm significant increases on all main routes. In particular, the costs of train travel increase on average by 47%, with peaks of up to +65% (Milan-Bologna). Things aren’t much better for those who decide to take a flight: the costs of national routes increase by 67% (with a peak of +131% for the Turin-Palermo route) and those of international flights by 62%. Traveling by coach is still the cheapest, but it is the one with the highest price increases. On average, monitored tickets increase by 72%, the highest increase is recorded on the Rome-Cosenza route, which at Easter has a 112% higher fare compared to a weekend in March.
«We believe that, in a phase of price increases like the current one, the time has come to put a spotlight on these surcharges, which are often accompanied by delays and inefficiencies. For this reason – concludes Federconsumatori – we are once again asking for intervention from the competent authorities to guarantee fair access to mobility and stem speculation on transport prices during the holidays”.