In times of high inflation, vacationers have to dig deeper into their pockets for flights. Flight tickets and package tours have become more expensive than average, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). Accordingly, the prices for international flights in the first half of 2023 rose by 24.9 percent compared to the same period last year. The prices for both flight tickets and package tours have risen sharply since the end of the corona-related travel restrictions, as the Wiesbaden statisticians explained.
If you look at the prices for international flights in economy class, the largest increases were on long-haul flights to Asia and Australia: Here, air travelers paid around 42.5 percent more in the first half of the year than in the same period last year. But the prices for flights to other European countries (plus 31.9 percent), to South America (plus 19.6 percent) and Africa (plus 16.6 percent) have also increased significantly. On the other hand, the price increase for flight tickets for domestic flights was rather small at 3.9 percent in the first six months compared to the same half of the previous year.
For comparison: Consumer prices as a whole rose by 7.4 percent in the corresponding half-year comparison. Package tours have also become more expensive. In the period from January to June, they cost an average of 10.2 percent more than in the previous year – compared to the first half of 2021 it was even 19.0 percent. Package tours within Germany increased in price by 14.5 percent in the first half of the year compared to the previous year, package tours abroad were 10.0 percent more expensive.