Price of flights from Belfast to London soars: it’s cheaper to fly to Nigeria or Florida says MP

A Northern Ireland MP, who frequently flies to London, said it has proven cheaper to fly to Nigeria or Florida than to get to the English capital.

Anyone booking a flight from Belfast to London today would have had to fork out £232 while a flight from Glasgow to London would have cost only £48.

Comparing the average cost of one-way flights from Belfast to London using a standard Google search would indicate that the price hike occurred within the past week.

Before then the average price of a flight had been around £40.

It would also appear that only flights to the English capital have risen, though according to the price graph they look set to fall again to under £40 next week.

Flying from Belfast to other parts of the UK, for example Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow, remains at close to £40 for the entire summer with the exception of Saturdays when prices rise slightly.

Strangford MP Jim Shannon believes travel should be affordable and fair for all UK citizens.

He said: “It has proven cheaper to travel a round trip to Nigeria, or take your Summer holiday thousands of miles to Florida than it is to get a return flight to London.

“I fly frequently to London for work purposes and I am aware of the significant rise in prices. I would look to the airlines to explain how they can justify this expense for domestic travel, but larger and much less frequent flights are considerably cheaper.

“Connectivity within all areas of the UK is essential and the Government has a role to play in ensuring that travel is accessible, affordable and fair for all UK citizens.”

He added: “I would ask airlines in conjunction with the Government to assess this issue and take into consideration the large volumes of people that travel domestically on a daily basis.”

The Consumer Council also noted a rise in the cost of flights, especially when flying at short notice.

Head of Transport Policy Richard Williams said: “The cost of flights is set independently by each airlines and will be based on factors such as demand and competition with other airlines. We advise consumers to plan and book their trips in advance if they can as we have seen that booking to fly at short notice is more costly than booking in advance.

“Our Knowledge Hub collects data on aviation connectivity and costs for Northern Ireland and shows that the difference in cost depending on when a flight is booked has increased recently.”

The council observed that on January 17, the cost an outbound BA flight from Belfast City to Heathrow two days in advance was £93 whereas on June 27, it was £219.

When booking for the same dates 12 weeks in advance, it was £44 on January 17 and £46 on June 27.