Ski holiday flights for February half-term selling for more than £1,300

Families looking for an Alpine getaway will need deep pockets

Accessing Austrian ski areas like the Stubai glacier is exorbitantly expensive over half-term

Flights connecting skiers to the mountains have rocketed in price this half-term, with fares as high as £1,365 for a return from London to Innsbruck with a “low-cost” airline.

The UK school holidays run from 16 to 23 February, and the cost of return flights during this time has increased tenfold to cash in on families looking for a last-minute winter getaway.

EasyJet is currently advertising some of the highest prices, with a return from Gatwick to Innsbruck, which provides a handy gateway to some of Austria’s top resorts, including Kühtai, Kitzbühel, Sölden and Obergurgl, costing between £1,122 and £1,365. This price does not include any checked baggage, just one cabin bag no bigger than 56x45x25cm.

British Airways, which is only offering Innsbruck flights from Sunday to Saturday or Sunday to Sunday, comes in slightly cheaper but fares still reach a dizzying £833 return for an outbound journey from Gatwick, returning to Heathrow. BA’s hand luggage allowance is more generous than easyJet’s, allowing for two bags weighing up to 23kg each.

Flights to Geneva, often used to access resorts in the French Alps such as Courchevel, Tignes-Val d’Isère and Les Arcs, have also spiked.

The cheapest flights The Independent could find departing 16 January and returning 23 January are courtesy of easyJet at £425. However, the airline’s fares almost triple to £1,226 for the more popular flight times from and to London Gatwick.

A British Airways return to Geneva costs £903; Jet2 flights range from £434 to £604; and Swiss offers fares from £541 to £791. All for a flight that covers just 760km and takes an hour and a half.

Flights to Innsbruck with easyJet cost up to £1,365 over half-term (easyJet)

BA’s flights from Stansted to Chambery, another popular airport for the French Alps, currently cost £825 return.

EasyJet’s cheapest return flights to Geneva over the half-term holiday are 10 times the price of its cheapest flights the following week – departing 23 February and returning 2 March – when travellers can bag a £37 return from London Southend.

While easyJet flights to Innsbruck remain fairly expensive the week after half-term, at £338 they are still 232 per cent cheaper than the least expensive holiday flights.

“If you want to know the date for half-term, just browse through any ski brochure and find the most expensive week of the season,” Peter Hardy, co-editor of Welove2ski.com, tells The Independent. “Tour operators justify their exorbitant package prices on the grounds that these compensate for the low season weeks when they are sometimes left with 50 per cent empty beds and seats.

“However, airlines capitalise on the busiest school holiday weeks when demand grossly outstrips supply.

BA’s Innsbruck flights cost more than £800 (British Airways)

“To avoid these punitive prices you need to book months ahead when tickets first go on sale at normal cost – or drive to the Alps. Ski Drive specialists such as Peak Retreats and Erna Low offer FlexiPlus Eurotunnel tickets as part of the deal.

“If you drive directly to your destination with three passengers, the travel cost per person remains wholly reasonable, competitive with the cheapest flights, and fairly constant throughout the season.”