Cyprus bucks EU trend as airfares climb

Passenger air transport prices in Cyprus were around 5 per cent higher in August than a year earlier, moving against the EU trend as airfares across the bloc fell slightly, according to the latest Eurostat figures. The increase comes at a time when Cyprus is also facing comparatively high inflation. The island’s harmonised inflation rate stood at 5.2 per cent in August 2026, the third highest in the EU, behind only Romania and Lithuania. By comparison, passenger air transport prices across the EU fell by 0.4 per cent year on year, while package holidays became 3.2 per cent more expensive, exactly matching the bloc’s overall inflation rate. Cyprus therefore moved in the opposite direction to the EU average for flights, although its increase was considerably smaller than those recorded at the top of the table. Greece recorded the sharpest rise in airfares, at 16.3 per cent, followed by Ireland at 14.4 per cent. At the other end, flight prices fell in 10 EU countries, with Slovakia recording by far the biggest decline, at 61.2 per cent. Among the other countries where fares fell, the decreases ranged from 15.8 per cent in Spain to 0.9 per cent in Lithuania. By contrast, package holiday prices rose across most of the EU. Belgium recorded the largest annual increase, at 16.2 per cent, followed by Portugal at 14.3 per cent, Sweden at 12.8 per cent, Lithuania at 12.3 per cent and Romania at 11.9 per cent. Conversely, package prices fell in only four member states. Estonia recorded a 21.1 per cent decline, followed by Spain with 5.2 per cent, Italy with 4.8 per cent and Ireland with 0.4 per cent. Inflation rates also varied widely across the EU.Romania had the highest overall inflation rate in August at 6.3 per cent, followed by Lithuania at 5.6 per cent, Cyprus at 5.2 per cent, Bulgaria at 5 per cent and Spain at 4.6 per cent. Belgium followed at 4.2 per cent and Luxembourg at 4 per cent, while Greece and Croatia both recorded 3.7 per cent. Portugal stood at 3.6 per cent, Poland at 3.5 per cent, and Ireland and Slovenia at 3.4 per cent. Meanwhile, Italy’s inflation rate matched the EU average of 3.2 per cent, with Slovakia at 3.1 per cent and Latvia at 3 per cent. Germany and Austria both recorded 2.9 per cent, ahead of the Netherlands at 2.8 per cent, France at 2.6 per cent and Finland at 2.4 per cent. Inflation was lower elsewhere in the bloc. Denmark and Malta both stood at 2 per cent, Hungary at 1.8 per cent and Czechia at 1.5 per cent. Estonia recorded 1.3 per cent, while Sweden had the lowest inflation rate in the EU at just 0.3 per cent. The latest figures also show how volatile the cost of flying has become. EU airfares were 13.7 per cent higher year on year in April 2025, before falling 3.2 per cent in May. That volatility continued in 2026, with prices down 2.9 per cent in January and 4.7 per cent in April, before jumping 8.1 per cent in May and recording more moderate increases in the following months. Package holiday prices changed more gradually. They rose 8.3 per cent in January 2025 and 8 per cent in February, before gradually slowing. After falling 0.5 per cent year on year in April 2026, prices recovered over the following months and were 3.2 per cent higher in August. Eurostat said the figures are based on the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP). For package holidays, the data cover products including travel, accommodation, food and organised tours, while the price movement is recorded when the holiday is purchased rather than when the trip takes place.