Brits set to have huge price increase on holidays in Europe this summer

The cost of a break in the sunshine will 'inevitably' shoot up due to the current chaotic state of the world, experts have said.

Most of us need a holiday more than ever at the minute, but unfortunately, the price of plane tickets are set to skyrocket - and some airlines have already announced plans to hike fees up.

So, it appears as though a lot of Brits will likely have to up their budgets for their summer trips this year.

After the US and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February, resulting in a war across the Middle East, oil prices increased by epic proportions.

Anything that needs fuel to function has just got a whole lot more expensive due to the fact that some of the world’s most critical oil and gas infrastructure is now at risk.

The conflict has caused disruption to the pipelines, refineries and shipping terminals that keep energy flowing from the countries around the Persian Gulf to the global economy.

The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has left around 20 percent of the planet's oil and liquefied natural gas with nowhere to go.

A satellite image of the Strait of Hormuz, which is a critical chokepoint for the global energy supply (Gallo Images/Orbital Horizon/Copernicus Sentinel Data 2025)

And although people in the UK might be far away from what's unfolding in a geographical sense, Brits are still going to end up paying the price for it, travel experts have warned.

Airlines including Thai Airways, Scandinavia’s SAS, Australia's Qantas Airways and Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific have all announced the cost of flights will be going up.

Because jet fuel is going up in price, customers across the globe are being charged more - and according to this aviation expert, it's 'very possible' that this will soon be a reality 'everywhere'.

"Already airlines like Air New Zealand have cut flights on the back of the uncertainty," Saj Ahmad, chief analyst at StrategicAero Research, told The i Paper.

The firm announced earlier this week that five percent of its journeys will not be going ahead throughout the beginning of May due to a spike in fuel costs.

"If an airline that far away from the Middle East can be affected, then so too can European airlines," Ahmad said. "And not every airline will have hedged their fuel bills."

He reckons that European airlines will soon follow suit if the war isn't wrapped up by the end of this month.

Heading abroad is about to get a lot more expensive this summer, travel experts have warned (Getty Stock Image)

"I do see EU airlines starting to hike fares across the board in advance of the summer season to popular destinations, as demand gravitates away from the Middle East," Ahmad said.

The expert explained that the 'sheer uncertainty' about the timeline of the war, combined with the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz is 'driving up costs'.

"Oil price volatility isn’t helping and the higher pricing we see now will only continue to rise as the war drags on," Ahmad added.

Richard Vilton shares a similar opinion too. He is the chief executive of Emu Analytics, which is a company that creates intelligence software for airports, airlines, and airspace regulators.

Explaining why people in the UK will feel the impact of the conflict financially, he said: "Even when disruption happens far from the UK, changes to available airspace can ripple through airline networks.

"If airlines need to reroute flights to avoid certain regions, it can increase flight times and reduce the flexibility they have to keep aircraft and crews running exactly to schedule.

Passengers will likely end up paying the price for the increase in fuel costs (Jeff Topping/Getty Images)

"For short-haul leisure routes to destinations like Greece and Spain, the impact is often indirect," Vilton went on. "Airlines may adjust schedules, add small buffers, or redeploy aircraft across their network to maintain reliability.

"We know from our customers that airlines are investing significant time and resources to minimise disruption and reduce the inconvenience to passengers."

Changing destinations won't help you either, according to John Grant, who is the chief analyst at aviation analytics firm OAG.

He added: "It’s inevitable that prices will rise in line with the price of oil regardless of where the flight is operating."

Another expert also said travellers who planned to flit around Europe this summer will feel it in their pockets.

"If [the war] goes on beyond - let’s say three or four weeks - then that picture for European holiday costs really rapidly changes," James Noel-Beswick, head of commodities at the market intelligence firm Sparta Commodities, said.