Brussels – Between January 2025 and June 2026, the sharpest rise in air transport service prices was recorded in April 2025, amounting to +13.7 per cent compared with April 2024, according to data released by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Union. Fluctuations with modest increases in the summer months followed this growth in the annual rate of change. 2026 started with a year-on-year decrease followed by rises in February and March and a sharp drop (-4.7 per cent) in April. In May, air transport services prices rose by 8.1 per cent compared with May 2025, with June following the same trend, with a 3.1 per cent increase.
Eurostat notes that changes in international air travel primarily influenced overall air transport prices. The year-on-year changes in prices for international journeys saw sharper falls than those for domestic flights during the quieter months, but also recorded sharp rises, including 14.1 per cent in April 2025 and 8.7 per cent in May 2026. In June 2026, prices for international air travel rose by 4.5 per cent and those for domestic air travel by 2 per cent.
Between April and June 2026, the year-on-year rates of change for air transport services varied considerably across the various EU countries. In Belgium, prices rose in all three months, albeit at a slowing pace: by 41.5 per cent in April 2026, 33.8 per cent in May, and 28.7 per cent in June compared with the same month in 2025. At the opposite end is Slovakia, where prices for air transport services fell, particularly in April 2026 (-53 per cent), May (-48.2 per cent) and June (-45.1 per cent). Between April and June, Italy recorded three declines in the annual rates of change for air transport services: -12.8 per cent in April, -3.4 per cent in May, and -10.3 per cent in June.
In most EU countries, however, air transport prices fell in April 2026, followed by increases in May 2026. In June 2026, Austria (+22.3 per cent) and Greece (+15.1 per cent) also recorded year-on-year rates of change exceeding 15 per cent. By contrast, Hungary (-13.6 per cent) and Poland (-13.1 per cent) were among the countries with the sharpest falls.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
