Airline prices to distant destinations are falling, Japan is overtaking Bangkok

Commercial presentation Update: 27/04/2024 07:50
Issued by: 27/04/2024, 07:50

Prague – Thanks to falling prices, according to ticket sellers, Czechs are buying tickets to more distant destinations in the spring than last year. They most often fly to Asia and North America from distant places. Czech tourists are gradually changing the popular Thai Bangkok for Japan. This follows from information from ticket sellers contacted by ČTK. The demand for Asian destinations was particularly strengthened by the new routes of China Airlines to Taiwan, Hainan Airlines to Beijing or the deployment of a more capable Boeing 787-800 Dreamliner by Qatar Airways on the route from Prague to Doha.

According to Josef Trejbal, director of the Letuška.cz portal, the introduction of new lines and increasing the capacity of existing ones is causing a drop in ticket prices. According to him, increasing the capacity of the line to Doha has led to cheaper tickets not only to Asia, but also to African destinations. “With the arrival of new carriers, of course, the range of flights for clients has expanded and the frequency of flights has increased,” confirmed Lenka Kašická, ticket manager of Student Agency Travel. According to her, tickets to Bangkok have become cheaper by 12 percent when departing from Prague, Hanoi by four percent, and tickets to Tokyo by an average of 15 to 20 percent.

It was Tokyo that was among the seven best-selling Asian destinations in February and March at the ticket seller Student Agency Travel. According to Katarína Šuchterová, the spokeswoman for Pelikán, the plane tickets to Japan are the cheapest in recent years. “In April alone, interest is up 270 percent compared to the same period last year,” she said. According to Šuchterová, Japan will overtake Bangkok from April, which has long been the most popular distant destination for Czechs. The growth of interest in Japan is also confirmed by the data of the retailer Kiwi.com.

Along with Asian destinations, most ticket sellers also sell tickets to distant destinations in North America. “Most Czechs fly to New York, to which 50 percent more tickets were sold year-on-year,” said Trejbal for Letuska. According to data from Student Agency Travel and the Letuška.cz portal, Los Angeles and Miami are the most common places to follow. The retailer saw a seven percent year-over-year increase in ticket sales in North America.

According to Trejbal, tickets to North America are becoming cheaper due to strong competition from air carriers that offer a large capacity on flights. “Return tickets currently start at under 10,000 crowns, so there is considerable interest in them,” he added.

According to Kiwi.com spokeswoman Daniela Chovancová, Dubai was among the five most popular destinations in February and March, followed by Bangkok, Colombo in Sri Lanka, Abu Dhabi and New York. The seller’s customers most often fly to Dubai and New York from Prague Airport, and to Bangkok, Colombo and New York from Vienna.

For long flights, most passengers prefer departures from nearby foreign airports, according to Šuchterová, the share of flights from Vienna among all tickets was 43 percent. According to her, departures from Vienna were on average 100 euros cheaper than from Prague. “Passengers departing from Krakow or Budapest paid an average of 200 and 300 euros less for their tickets,” she added.

Czech Republic aviation tourism trends