Greece records strong air fare rise while Cyprus declines

Air transport prices in Cyprus fell in June while average air fares across the European Union continued to rise, according to figures released by Eurostat this week.

The EU statistical agency said the price of air transport services, including plane tickets, has fluctuated significantly since January 2025, reflecting changes in travel demand, seasonal patterns and the impact of recent geopolitical developments.

In Cyprus, air transport prices were 1.8 per cent lower in June 2026 than in the same month a year earlier.

This contrasted with the wider EU trend, where air transport prices were 3.1 per cent higher in June 2026 than in June 2025.

The June decline followed a mixed pattern in Cyprus over recent months.

Air transport prices in Cyprus had risen by 7.8 per cent in May 2026, after falling by 0.7 per cent in April and 0.4 per cent in March on an annual basis.

The data suggest that Cyprus experienced a brief rebound in May before returning to negative territory in June.

Across the EU, Eurostat said the strongest increase in air transport prices during the period from January 2025 to June 2026 occurred in April 2025, when prices were 13.7 per cent higher than in April 2024.

That surge was followed by more moderate increases during the summer months.

The beginning of 2026 was characterised by year-on-year declines in air fares, followed by increases in February and March and then a sharp fall of 4.7 per cent in April 2026.

Prices rebounded strongly in May 2026, rising by 8.1 per cent compared with May 2025, and continued to increase in June, though at a slower pace.

Eurostat said the overall movement in air transport prices was driven mainly by changes in international air travel, which tends to be more volatile than domestic flights.

International flight prices fell more sharply than domestic fares during weaker months, but they also recorded stronger rebounds.

The annual increase in international air transport prices reached 14.1 per cent in April 2025 and 8.7 per cent in May 2026.

In June 2026, international air travel prices across the EU were 4.5 per cent higher than a year earlier, while domestic air travel prices rose by 2.0 per cent.

The report also highlighted large differences between EU member states between April and June 2026.

Belgium recorded some of the strongest increases in air fares in the bloc, with prices up 41.5 per cent in April, 33.8 per cent in May and 28.7 per cent in June compared with the same months in 2025.

At the opposite end of the scale, Slovakia saw steep declines, with air transport prices down 53.0 per cent in April, 48.2 per cent in May and 45.1 per cent in June.

Eurostat said that in most EU countries air transport prices fell in April before rising again in May.

In June, Austria and Greece recorded particularly strong increases, with annual rises of 22.3 per cent and 15.1 per cent respectively.

Among the biggest declines were Hungary, where prices fell 13.6 per cent, and Poland, where they fell 13.1 per cent.

Cyprus was therefore among the EU countries that recorded a year-on-year decline in June, even as the bloc as a whole registered a positive annual increase in air transport prices.

The figures are based on Eurostat’s harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) for passenger transport by air, which measures changes in the prices paid by consumers for air travel services across EU member states.