Airline tickets in Greece were more expensive this August, according to Eurostat data, with passenger air transport prices increasing by 16.3% compared with the corresponding month of 2025, recording the largest rise among all countries of the European Union.
This development becomes more significant when compared with the picture in the rest of Europe, as during the same period, airline ticket prices in the E.U. fell by 0.4% compared with a year earlier.
Greece was not, however, the only country where airline tickets became more expensive. In Ireland prices increased by 14.4%, recording the second-largest rise in the E.U., with Germany following at around 8% and Austria next at around 7%. An increase was also observed:
- in Romania,
- in Finland,
- in Cyprus,
- in Sweden,
- in Croatia,
- in Malta,
- in Latvia,
- in Luxembourg,
- in Slovenia,
- in the Netherlands,
- in France and, finally,
- in Portugal.
By contrast, in 10 E.U. countries airline ticket prices fell. The largest drop was recorded in Slovakia, where prices were 61.2% lower than in August 2025. In Spain the drop reached 15.8%, while in the remaining countries (Italy, Estonia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, Belgium, the Czech Republic and Lithuania) the decreases ranged from 0.9% to 15.8%.
Package holidays
Eurostat also examines the prices of package holidays. In the European Union, holiday packages were 3.2% more expensive in August compared with a year earlier. The increase was the same as overall inflation in the E.U., which also stood at 3.2%. However, the differences between countries were large in this case as well.
Belgium recorded an increase of 16.2%, Portugal 14.3%, Sweden 12.8%, Lithuania 12.3% and Romania 11.9%. In this case Greece recorded an increase in the package of about 6%.
In four countries, by contrast, holiday packages became cheaper. In Estonia the drop reached 21.1%, in Spain 5.2%, in Italy 4.8% and in Ireland 0.4%.
Airline tickets
As regards airline ticket prices, they do not follow a steady course during the year, as they are strongly affected by the season, demand and the point in time at which the purchase is made.
Based on Eurostat data, airline ticket prices in the E.U. were 13.7% higher in April 2025 compared with the same month of 2024. A month later, however, they had recorded a drop of 3.2%.
Similar changes were also recorded in 2026. Prices started the year down by 2.9%, in April they declined by 4.7%, while in May they increased sharply by 8.1%.
It is noted that the 16.3% increase does not mean that all airline tickets became 16.3% more expensive. It means that, overall, airline ticket prices in August were 16.3% higher than in August 2025, according to the price index used by Eurostat.