This year too, the Christmas holidays will be characterized by the cost of air travel, with flight prices skyrocketing in the days leading up to the holidays. And it won’t be any better for those who travel by train or car, considering that train tickets have also reached high levels and that fuel prices are recording a sharp rise in recent weeks. This was stated by Assoutenti, who explains: «Those who are preparing to purchase a ticket leaving on December 24th and returning on January 6th spend a minimum of 505 euros to go from Turin to Palermo and return, and as many as 492 euros to fly from Pisa to Catania. From Turin to Catania, on the same dates, it costs 422 euros, which drops to 411 euros from Milan to Palermo, the same price as the Verona-Palermo route. 406 euros is the price of a return ticket from Milan to Catania. Depending on the company chosen and the flight time, return tickets can reach over 800 euros, as in the case of the Milan Linate-Catania connection which reaches the record of 841 euros”.
Prohibitive fares also on the train front: «for a one-way trip on Saturday 20 December with AV connections, you need at least 199 euros for the Turin-Reggio Calabria route, 185 euros from Milan to Reggio Calabria, 183 euros from Turin to Lecce, 153 euros from Milan to Lecce, 167 euros from Genoa to Reggio Calabria». Another sore point is that of fuel: those who travel by car will have to deal with the increases in prices at the pump recorded in recent weeks. The high-flight phenomenon is a phenomenon «which represents a form of hateful speculation at the expense of consumers, and which despite Antitrust investigations and political proclamations has not yet found a solution», comments President Gabriele Melluso.
Codacons, prices for Christmas flights: +900% compared to normal rates
Flying during the holiday season costs up to 900% more than regular airfares. This was reported by Codacons, which has submitted a new report on the case to the Antitrust, Ministry of Transport and Enac. «Those who are purchasing direct flights for the Christmas period from the cities of northern Italy to the main airports of Sicily and Sardinia these days have to deal with prices well above the average. – explains the association -. Comparing the minimum fares applied by the airlines for the date of December 23rd, we discover that the Milan-Palermo flight starts from 170 euros, 900% more than the minimum spend of 17 euros needed to cover the same route flying on Tuesday 13th January. From Milan to Catania the ticket on 23 December costs 178 euros, 790% more than the 20 euros on 13 January. +758% the price of the Rome-Catania route on the same dates (from 17 to 146 euros), +616% that of the Rome-Palermo route (from 18 to 129 euros), while the fare of the Milan-Cagliari flight rises by +350% (from 18 to 81 euros). It’s better, so to speak, if you fly from Rome to Cagliari: in this case the increase in the ticket compared to January fares is +182%”. «For the same service, airfares during the holidays record a completely unjustified surge, and for this reason we have presented a new report to the Antitrust – which already investigates the phenomenon of high flight prices – Enac and MIT, asking for urgent intervention in favor of citizens who every year have to undergo the Christmas bloodletting in the air transport sector», concludes Codacons.