What are the cheapest airports to fly from in Europe?

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This was published 8 years ago

What are the cheapest airports to fly from in Europe?

By Michael Gebicki
Updated
The cheapest fares are from major airports flying well-travelled routes.

The cheapest fares are from major airports flying well-travelled routes.

The No. 1 factor that determines air travel prices is the level of competition.

Major hub airports such as London's Heathrow, Frankfurt Airport and Charles de Gaulle in Paris will generally offer the cheapest air fares because the volume of air traffic, and competition between carriers, is high.

Competition also dictates that fares are lowest on major routes with plenty of air traffic.

According to Hipmunk for example, a one-way flight from London to Palermo in Sicily on November 30 costs as little as $101.

On the same day, a flight from London to Brindisi, deep in southern Italy, and with far less air traffic, starts at $478.

Discount carriers are attracted to operate on these major routes, which also helps keep the lid on prices that the majors can charge.

What can skew this picture is when a discount carrier chooses to operate from a regional airport.

For example, several carriers now operate out of San Francesco d'Assisi Airport in Italy's Perugia, and a flight from there to London on November 30 can cost as little $64 with Ryanair.

However, this is an exceptional circumstance.

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The next cheapest fare on the same route is $849.

This suggests that Ryanair's seats will fill quickly and once that happens, travellers will be left with the choice of a very expensive flight to London, or a train ride to Rome and a saving of around $650 on the airfare.

See also: How Aussie travellers can avoid the Heathrow nightmare
See also: The 10 rules of eating in Europe

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