Long-haul flights from the UK are getting more expensive – while European fares fall
Key Points
- Long-haul air fares rose 31.7% between June and July 2026, against a 20.9% rise a year earlier.
- European fares fell 4.3% over the same period, compared with a 38% rise in July 2025.
- Reduced capacity into Middle Eastern airports, jet fuel costs and rerouting are pushing long-haul prices up.
- Airlines can consolidate short-haul schedules to cut costs, an option rarely available on long-haul routes.
- Air fares made the largest downward contribution to UK services inflation in July.
Long-haul air fares rose 31.7% between June and July while European fares fell 4.3%, according to new data from the Office for National Statistics.
Air fares overall rose 11.7% over the month, well short of the 30.2% rise recorded between the same two months in 2025.
European routes accounted for almost all of the slowdown, falling 4.3% against a 38% rise in July last year. Ny comparison, long-haul fares rose 31.7%, ahead of the 20.9% rise a year ago.
Many airlines have suspended or reduced flights into Middle Eastern airports because of the armed conflict, and the ONS points to that loss of capacity as a likely cause of the increase in long-haul prices.
Jet fuel costs weigh more heavily on long-haul routes, which use larger aircraft that take off carrying more fuel and therefore more weight.
Disrupted airspace across parts of the Middle East has also forced carriers to reroute, which does not affect short-haul European services.
Short-haul prices fell partly because of a reported drop in consumer demand, ONS said, and partly because airlines have more room to manage those routes.
Cancelling one flight on a route served several times a day allows an airline to carry the same passengers at lower cost, an option that rarely exists on long-haul routes with a single daily departure.
It should be noted that collection timings also affect part of the long-haul figure. The ONS collected all domestic and European fares after the conflict began on 28 February. It collected long-haul fares for departures three months and one month ahead after that date, but gathered prices for departures six months ahead before the conflict started.
Air fares made the largest downward contribution to services inflation in July, which eased to 3.4% from 3.6%.
Despite this, transport inflation slowed to 3.6% from 5.7% over the same period, helped by diesel falling 8.8 pence per litre to an average of 167.6 pence and petrol falling 3.1 pence to 152.2 pence.
