Eurostat reported that the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) showed EU package holiday prices were 3.2% higher in August 2026 than a year earlier, exactly in line with the bloc’s overall inflation rate of 3.2%. In the same month, passenger air transport prices declined 0.4% year‑on‑year.
Airfare prices have been volatile over the past two years. After a 13.7% year‑on‑year increase in April 2025, they fell 3.2% in May 2025. In 2026, the trend continued with a 2.9% drop at the start of the year, a 4.7% fall in April, followed by an 8.1% rise in May and more moderate movements thereafter.
Package holiday prices also fluctuated. They were 8.3% and 8.0% above the previous year in January and February 2025, peaked at 7.7% in April 2025, then moved closer to the overall inflation rate between June and October 2025. After a 0.5% decline in April 2026, prices recovered in the following months, reaching the 3.2% year‑on‑year increase in August.
Country‑level data reveal sharp divergences. Flight prices rose most in Greece (+16.3%) and Ireland (+14.4%) in August 2026, while ten EU members recorded declines, led by Slovakia (‑61.2%). Other notable falls were Spain (‑15.8%) and Lithuania (‑0.9%). On the holiday side, Belgium posted the largest gain (+16.2%), followed by Portugal (+14.3%), Sweden (+12.8%), Lithuania (+12.3%) and Romania (+11.9%). Four countries saw lower holiday costs: Estonia (‑21.1%), Spain (‑5.2%), Italy (‑4.8%) and Ireland (‑0.4%).
