Returning home by plane during the Christmas holidays is already a drain for Italians. This is what Codacons says, which carried out a first study on the prices of national flights for the end-of-year holidays, from which it emerges that ticket prices reach particularly high figures on numerous connections from north to south Italy.
These days, workers and students who intend to return to their families for Christmas and New Year are purchasing flights, clashing with fares that, even now, appear very high. - explains Codacons - Assuming departure on 23 or 24 December with return on 6 January, among the most expensive routes is Milan-Reggio Calabria, with return ticket prices starting from 427 euros, followed by Milan-Trapani, where the minimum fare is 383 euros. High costs also for those leaving from Turin: flying to Reggio Calabria and back costs at least 359 euros, while for Catania it starts from 354 euros, 349 euros for Brindisi.
To fly from Florence to Palermo you need 345 euros, while on the Verona-Catania, Bologna-Catania and Venice-Catania routes the fares start from 340 euros. For Turin-Palermo and Milan-Catania 342 euros. The situation does not improve for those who have to reach other destinations in the South: a Milan-Foggia flight costs 330 euros, while from Milan it takes 308 for Crotone, 307 euros for Brindisi; 300 euros from Verona to Bari, adds the association.
Rates to which must be added the costs for hand luggage and ancillary costs such as the choice of seat, and which risk penalizing especially students and workers away from home, as well as families who wish to reunite with their loved ones during the holidays, forcing many travelers to incur particularly heavy expenses or, in the most difficult cases, to give up the trip. Unfortunately, the situation is set to get worse: as the holidays approach and demand increases, airfares will increase further, warns Codacons.
The high cost of flights that afflicts Italians during the holidays has led in recent years to the birth of a new phenomenon, that of the "ping pong of the skies", with passengers who, to cope with the prohibitive prices of airline tickets, choose to save money by opting for flights with stopovers, even abroad, or land at secondary airports and then reach the final destination by other means. This was stated by the company specializing in air transport RimborsoAlVolo, commenting on the report released today by Codacons.
By analyzing the air fares charged today for those who have to fly from north to south Italy during the end-of-year holiday period, we discover how, by choosing flights with national or European stopovers, the saving on the cost of the ticket is on average around 30/40% compared to the price of the direct flight and can in some cases reach over 60% - reveals RimborsoAlVolo. For example, for the Milan-Catania connection (departure 23 December, return 6 January) the cost is halved if you opt for a stopover in Valencia on the outward journey and in Tirana on the return journey, with the ticket price dropping from 342 to 157 euros (-54%, -185 euros).
On the same dates, the cost of the Turin-Catania ticket drops by 47%, with a saving of 167 euros per passenger if you stop in Tirana on the outward journey. Even by choosing national airports, the cost savings are significant: during the holiday period, when flying with a stopover at Fiumicino, spending drops by 40.6% on the Florence-Palermo route, by 38.3% on the Florence-Catania route, and by 32% on the Turin-Brindisi route - says RimborsoAlVolo. "The practice of giving up direct flights and resorting to those with a stopover is an increasingly widespread reality, especially among young people and students, a strategy for surviving the high cost of flights which however is not free from dangers - warns Giuseppe Conversano, CEO of RimborsoAlVolo - such as the risk of suffering inefficiencies such as delays and cancellations".
