Airline costs vary depending on direction you fly

AIRLINE passengers are being charged hundreds of euro more for flights than travellers flying the same journey but in the opposite direction.

The Irish Examiner looked at 10 popular routes in and out of Ireland and found discrepancies in fares of up to €250 one-way, confirming the end of the popular myth about a return ticket being cheaper than two single tickets.

For instance, a British Airways flight from Dublin to Sydney, Australia, in mid-March costs €1,068 before taxes.

Yet a flight the other way from Sydney to Dublin at the same time of the month is €812 before tax.

That is a difference of €256 or 24% more for effectively the same one-way journey at the same time of year on a similar plane using the same amount of fuel.

Likewise, the price of a seat on one of Ryanair’s three flights from Cork to London Stansted on March 15 ranges from 49 cents to €16.99.

Yet the price of a seat on the three flights from Stansted to Cork that day ranges from €14.92 to €59.74.

That equates to a maximum difference of €42.75 or 250% extra for a journey of equal distance taking the same time.

Travel consultant John G O’Dwyer said the discrepancies were down to airlines trying to make as much money as they could from every single flight.

“Budget airlines see every single flight as a different product and every airline wants to maximise revenue all the time.

“This leads to different rates for customers flying from London, for example, and those flying from Knock as each have different motivations for travel.”

Low demand or fierce competition could explain why flights were cheaper from the USA to destinations in Ireland but more expensive the other way on the same route.

Similarly, airlines priced their seats according to the reasons they believed passengers had for travelling at a particular time.

Passengers flying from London wold be willing to pay higher rates to get to Ireland as they could be on business and working to a tight schedule.

Passengers living around Cork could be more flexible about travelling abroad so airlines would lower their prices to attract their custom, Mr O’Dwyer said.

“The price is whatever the market will bear,” he said.

Thanks to the dominance of internet booking, up-to-the minute information on demand for places on flights allowed airlines to fine-tune their pricing policies with ease.

European Union consumer campaigners said the practice of charging different amounts for the same flights in opposite directions was wrong.

“We want to eliminate price discrimination as all European consumers should pay the same,” said BEUC, the European Consumers’ Organisation.

But Ireland’s national carrier, Aer Lingus, said the policy was designed to match demand with supply so the airline could maximise its income.

Seat fares currently started at €1 to Europe and Britain but the charge rose once the lower price seats were taken and the next bank of seats became available and so on, said the airline.