I believe we are all feeling the pinch now with the rising fuel costs effecting everything from filling up our car to our weekly shop, well its not in the news as much but aviation fuel is rising at an even faster rate, Silverjet being the latest victim.
For now holidays and flights are more than the were last year but it is not a major jump, well this is mainly due to Airlines 'hedging" the fuel prices, simply put fuel was bought in bulk at a set rate before the expected price rises. Unfortunately these rises have been much steeper than anyone expected and the industry is facing its biggest challenge since 9/11, expect to lose some familiar names over the coming summer. Its not only the fuel increases that hit hard but with the cost of living going up so rapidly holidays will be the first thing to fall by the wayside and the astonishingly strong price of the euro at the moment means that prices have gone up comparatively 15-20% over this time last year, even though the actual local prices will be the same, 1.26€ to the pound compared to 1.67€ 18 months ago, I think this for the first time puts a pint of beer is more expensive in Arillas than here in the UK, admittedly the surroundings are better and you don't have to run the gauntlet of drunken 16 years olds to get to the pub but that's a different topic altogether.
Why all the doom and gloom well at the moment this hedging of fuel prices is still in effect, you may have seen in the news about further fuel surcharges from BA, the surcharge to the west coast of America is now nearly £260 if you can believe that. The charters and low cost will be going up steeply soon to so if you have been debating about booking your flights do it now, they are not going to get any cheaper and mid summer expect some big rises.
On a much more positive note and on the contrary to some of the above, reports are that Greece had a really strong May and June is looking good to especially with the new Easyjet and Jet 2 routes, my Mum also mentioned that Arillas is busier earlier which is very pleasing to hear.
