Travel warning news: UK holidaymakers warned over travelling to Spain, France, Portugal or Greece this summer as flight prices soar

UK holidaymakers planning to book their summer getaways to popular destinations including Spain, France, and Portugal have been issued a travel warning due to soaring flight prices. According to comparison site Hopper, trips to Barcelona have gone up by just under a third, from £143 to £187, whilst journeys to Malaga have risen from £192 to £246, a rise of 28 per cent.

The Mirror reports that the biggest price rise is on return flights from the UK to Menorca which have rocketed 63 per cent, from £178 in January 2020 to £291 today. A trip to Athens will also set you back £223, up from £182, whilst you’ll need to fork out £340 for a flight Mykonos, up from £278. 

Prices to Portuguese locations such as Faro and Porto have also increased. A return flight to these destinations will cost you £234 and £182 respectively – up from £196 and £155. However, not all destinations have seen inflated flight prices.

Funchal in Portugal has seen flights there go down by 20 per cent in price, from £259 to £207. Flights to Tenerife are also down by £43 (to £296 now), with flights to Lisbon seeing a slight decrease of £5 (down to £165).

Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair, warned holidaymakers that they will see flight prices soar this summer. He said: "Fares in summer 2024 are going to be up again on summer 2023. Our average air fares in summer 2023 rose 17 percent. We don't think we'll see that kind of double-digit fare increase this year. 

He added that the aviation industry may struggle to meet demands following a limited number of planes for European firms. The Express reported that Mr O'Leary said that with less aircraft, Ryanair might expect 200 million passengers instead of 205 million passengers by March 2025.

O’Leary also said fares would be higher partly because of delays to the delivery of Boeing planes following the Alaska Airlines incident on 5 January and issues with Pratt & Whitney engines on Airbus A320 planes which will force some planes to be grounded at airlines including Wizz Air and Lufthansa.

Boeing said: “We are communicating with customers that some delivery schedules may change as we take the necessary time to make sure that every airplane we deliver is high quality and meets all customer and regulatory requirements. We deeply regret the impact this is having on our valued customer Ryanair. We’re working to address their concerns and taking action on a comprehensive plan to strengthen 737 quality and delivery performance.”