Do larger airports generally have cheaper airfares than smaller airports?

bruirn

Looking to go to Turkey on a family holiday this August and I've found that package holiday to Olu Deniz resort flying from either Manchester or Gatwick is about £300 cheaper than flying from Doncaster. Is this fairly standard?

pompeyrich

Basically there are less flights, maybe a weekly service from Donny where as the bigger airport might have several everyday, less supply and more demand means dearer prices. People seem to enjoy flying from ther "local" airport and are happy to more for the privelidge.

mcfisco

I usually find Doncaster cheapest of the small airports in the NE

Tomby1

Not always - but it's definitely a supply & demand issue. I've found the odd flight that's been cheaper from the more regional airports (Bristol, Southend etc.) but as a rule of thumb, you pay a minimum 10% premium to use your local airport.

It's not only that people enjoy flying from their local airport - it can often actually be more expensive and a whole lot more hassle to fly from a bigger hub as you are more likely to need to pay for parking, accomodation, public transport / more petrol etc.

bruirn

pompeyrich wrote: »

Basically there are less flights, maybe a weekly service from Donny where as the bigger airport might have several everyday, less supply and more demand means dearer prices. People seem to enjoy flying from ther "local" airport and are happy to more for the privelidge.

The economies of scale element certainly makes sense. I live in Wakefield so Doncaster or even Leeds airport would be more convenient but if there's money to be saved I'd be prepared to go that bit further.

pompeyrich

bruirn wrote: »

The economies of scale element certainly makes sense. I live in Wakefield so Doncaster or even Leeds airport would be more convenient but if there's money to be saved I'd be prepared to go that bit further.

That's what drives me too, I guess it depends on how many of you are going and how much you can save, allowing for the extra costs of getting further afield as Tomby points out. There were 5 of us and a £100 p.p. saving made a drive up to Birmingham, worthwhile in my opinion, it is twice as far as Gatwick but better roads mean it takes about the same time, a bit more petrol but cheaper parking, maybe not worth it for a couple but it worked for us.

Doshwaster

There are a lot of factors involved but typically it is cheaper, per flight, to to run multiple flights to multiple destinations than only a few routes. Plus there will be typically more competition from other airlines. On the other side, landing fees may be less at smaller airports and the airline may have been given "incentives" to use them.

Another factor to consider as a passenger is if you are flying on a route with only one plane per day you can be stuffed if there is a problem with the weather or the plane. If there are several flights per day it's easier for the airline to shuffle you onto another flight.

Katiehound

bruirn wrote: »

Looking to go to Turkey on a family holiday this August and I've found that package holiday to Olu Deniz resort flying from either Manchester or Gatwick is about £300 cheaper than flying from Doncaster. Is this fairly standard?

Is that £300 in total?

How is that set against other expenses? For example I can get friends to drop me off on the way to work at my nearest airport so zero car park charges. I don't have to get to Manchester (or ugh Gatwick) by whatever means- time & cost & possible overnight stay.
Generally a small airport is just that, small but perfectly formed, no long, long corridors to traipse thro or luggage for the millions on the conveyor belt. Sometimes it is worth just a little bit extra (I do only mean a small amount, not hundreds) to preserve one's sanity when travelling.

The last flight I had was chartered long haul. Got into Gatwick over 1 hour late, came in on the furthest gate, miles to walk with no travelators, huge queues at immigration and mine was one of the last cases on the carousel. Took almost 2 hours from actual landing time to car park exit. All that after 10 hour flight. What would I have given to be at Humberside?? the moon!!!

alanrowell

The answer is - as always - it depends.

Certainly for charter flights the number of other flights to the destination affect the price and as smaller airports tend to have less flights the airline has a more captive market.

One area where you might find cheaper prices at a smaller airport is on long haul flights where the major airlines might want you to fly via their main hub airport rather than someone else's often to the point that the price is lower than flying from their hub airport. So instead of flying to the US via Heathrow from your local airport, you might fly with - say - Lufthansa via Frankfurt.

bruirn

Katiehound wrote: »

Is that £300 in total?

How is that set against other expenses? For example I can get friends to drop me off on the way to work at my nearest airport so zero car park charges. I don't have to get to Manchester (or ugh Gatwick) by whatever means- time & cost & possible overnight stay.
Generally a small airport is just that, small but perfectly formed, no long, long corridors to traipse thro or luggage for the millions on the conveyor belt. Sometimes it is worth just a little bit extra (I do only mean a small amount, not hundreds) to preserve one's sanity when travelling.

The last flight I had was chartered long haul. Got into Gatwick over 1 hour late, came in on the furthest gate, miles to walk with no travelators, huge queues at immigration and mine was one of the last cases on the carousel. Took almost 2 hours from actual landing time to car park exit. All that after 10 hour flight. What would I have given to be at Humberside?? the moon!!!

I wish! No, £300 saving for a package holiday for three.