There is a plethora of different price comparison sites. Travelmarket is one of them, and the company makes recurring searches for average prices on flights to and from Europe, but also longer trips.
The average price of a flight from Sweden to the rest of Europe has risen by around 30-40 percent compared to the same time last year. The calculations are based on searches made on July 1 and refer to a round-trip ticket for a trip in week 31.
More expensive baggage
Why is that?
"The capacity has decreased, but the demand is the same, and then the flight prices rise during the absolute peak season", writes Travelmarket's CEO Ole Stouby in an email response to TT.
Probably, the trip has become even more expensive in the short term, at least if you want to bring baggage larger than a handbag. The airlines are now to a greater extent charging extra even for the cabin bag.
But on the other hand, seen over a slightly longer period and taking into account inflation, flying has hardly become more expensive, rather the opposite, a picture Ole Stouby confirms.
Not more expensive in the long term
According to Travelmarket, it is currently possible to find an average trip from Stockholm, Gothenburg or Copenhagen to a European major city for around 2,200 kronor, round trip. Last year, the figure was around 1,600 kronor at the same time. But in 2010, the same trip cost around 1,800 kronor. If the price in 2010 had followed inflation, the general price trend in society, the same trip would have cost just over 2,400 kronor today.
On the other hand, the prices for intercontinental trips have gone up. From Stockholm and Gothenburg, the price of long-haul flights has fallen, where the abolished flight tax from the mid-year shift may have had an impact, according to Stouby.
The price picture that Travelmarket states only applies there and then, the fluctuations are large depending on when you book.