Canadian travellers are spending 38.3% less for airfares this year compared with last year but the country remains among the most expensive countries in the world in which to buy an airline ticket, according to a new study on global airfares released June 1.
Kiwi.com has compiled the aviation price index based on more than a million different fares. The company tracks airfares for low-cost and full-service airlines, on short- and long-haul routes and in high- and low-demand seasons in 80 countries.
Its 2017 ranking pegs Canada as the 16th most expensive country in the world in which to buy an airline ticket, based on a basket of those different kinds of airfares.
That is down from last year, when Canada ranked as the sixth most expensive country in the world to buy an airline ticket, out of 75 countries that Kiwi.com analyzed.
Canadians in 2017 spend US$23.90 on average to travel 100 kilometres, when factors such as service levels and whether the travel is domestic or international is taken into consideration. That is down from an average price of US$38.71 in 2016.
Belgium surged to the head of the pack as Kiwi.com now ranks that Benelux country as the priciest place on the planet to buy airline tickets, with an average US$54.63 cost to travel 100 kilometres. That price is 42.7% more than Belgians had to pay last year.
Malaysia, in contrast, is now the cheapest place in the world to buy airline tickets, with the average price to travel 100 kilometres being US$4.18.
Malaysian carriers, however, have been in the public spotlight for disasters, such as a crash in July 2014 when a Malaysian Airlines plane was shot down when flying over Ukraine. That came a few months after Malaysian Airlines flight 370 disappeared en route between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing.
“Ticket prices fluctuate constantly for a myriad of reasons,” explained Kiwi.com CEO Oliver Dlouhý.
“Year on year changes can partly be attributed to fuel prices, sociopolitical shifts such as Brexit, recent elections and fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.”
He explained that airfares in the UK, for example, are lower than last year, thanks in part to a weakening pound. Airfares in Egypt and Turkey have decreased due to regional turmoil, he added.
“By tracking flight cost by country, travellers have more information with which to choose destinations that allow them to travel further on their budget. Travellers know what their ideal route, timing and price is, so we give them the tools to fulfill that.”
In addition to the ranking of a basket of different airfares, Kiwi.com also segmented out specific kinds of flights and their costs in different countries.
Canada is the 45th most expensive country in the world for short-haul flights on a discount carrier and the 28th most expensive country in the world for short-haul flights on a full-service carrier.
Canada ranked as the seventh most expensive country in the world for long-haul flights on a low-cost carrier and the fourth most expensive country in the world for long-haul flights on a full-service carrier.
Kiwi.com's list of most expensive countries in the world for airfares:
