The most economical flight to travel on

[filthiestfis]

By measuring time and average route price on economy class, which are the destinations that offer most value for money?
Per mile, is it cheaper to fly to australia than it is to amsterdam, from london?

[jno]

depends on the airline, the time of year... the prices generally, which go up and down a lot. Amsterdam's about 250 miles, Sydney's about 10,000 miles (the routes used will also make a difference with long-haul flights; some make Sydney 13,000 miles) . So you'd expect Sydney to cost 40 times as much, and I think it's mostly less than that.

[Buenchico]

Before the EU derugulated European airlines (which resulted in the creation of numerous budget airlines), the most economical flights (on a 'pounds per mile' basis) were always on the long haul services. For example, when I flew to Australia about 20 years ago, the cost of the return flight wasn't much more than double the cost of a return flight from London to Paris.

These days, it's impossible to make realistic comparisons. Long haul flights are still inexpensive, on a 'pound for mile' basis, when compared with 'full price' flights to Europe but not in comparison to some budget airline fares. (e.g. I've paid 2p return for Stansted-Dublin, 98p return for Stansted-Genoa, etc. Long haul flights, even on a 'pounds per mile' basis, will always work out dearer than the lowest European budget airline fares).

Chris

[jno]

from next month you can fly to Hong Kong for �150 return on Oasis