Which is the most overpriced flight route on the planet?

British travellers in search of a bargain would do well to visit Singapore after the Asian city-state emerged as the most cost effective flight route from the UK, with each mile in the air costing, on average, less than 3p. 

It pipped Los Angeles, to which average fares equate to 3.4p per mile, and Chicago (4.5p per mile), as - statistically speaking - the best value flight option from London. 

This is according to a global price study carried out for Telegraph Travel by the flight comparison website Kayak. It assessed the average cost of a one-way economy ticket from the capital to scores of cities around the world, for travel between February and May, and then divided the cost by the distance flown.

Unsurprisingly, it found that - in most cases - the further you fly, the more you get for your money. “When setting their total ticket prices, airlines have to take a lot more into account than just fuel costs,” explained Neil Cartwright, travel expert at Kayak. “Taxes and airport fees, among other things, have to be paid regardless of flight length. So, while long-haul flights can seem expensive, they actually offer great value.”

But the research uncovered a few surprises too. 

Long-haul flights: Transatlantic routes offer excellent value

Of the long-haul routes, six of the 10 most economic were to destinations in North America. LA, Chicago and Boston were all in the top five, with cost per mile below 5p, while New York sat just outside the top 10, in 11th, at 6p per mile.

Most and least cost-effective routes to worldwide destinations

The presence of these US cities, as well as Singapore’s top ranking, reflects the recent resurgence of low-cost, long-haul air travel. Norwegian launched budget flights from Gatwick to Singapore last year, with fares from £150, and serves a clutch of US cities (including New York, Orlando, Boston and Las Vegas) from the London airport. 

That said, three of the five least economic flights were also to the US, with Atlanta, Miami and San Francisco proving much more expensive.

Flights to Atlanta, home to the world’s busiest airport, clock in at 18.9p a mile, with the average fare totalling £807. Tokyo and Dubai complete the bottom five.

The Middle Eastern city, with one of the shortest flight distances in the long-haul category (3,405 miles), was the fifth least economic, with a £285 average fare (8.38p per mile). Travellers will find much better value on flights to cities like Orlando, Toronto, and Las Vegas.

Short-haul flights: Head to Madrid or Eastern Europe

The fourth most economic overall, with a cost per mile of 4.6p (half as much as a flight to Tokyo), is the Spanish capital, making it the best option in Western Europe.

Most and least cost-effective routes from the UK to Europe

But at the top of the table is the Romanian capital of Bucharest, which you’ll pay just 4p a mile to reach, followed by Larnaca, Cyprus (4.3p), and Sofia, Bulgaria (4.4p).

Cities just across the Channel, all served by Eurostar trains, offer the worst value when it comes to flying from London, with the three least economic destinations proving to be Brussels (23.7p per mile), Paris (19p) and Amsterdam (17.2p).

Domestic flights: The worst value overall 

It’s all relative, of course, with UK rail tickets often terribly expensive, but domestic routes offer the worst value, with a flight from London to Manchester costing 38.6p a mile, more than 13 times the cost per mile of a service to Singapore.

Most and least cost-effective domestic routes within the UK

Southampton to Leeds was not far behind (38.2p per mile) followed by Leeds to London (36.9p per mile).

At the other end of the spectrum, a trip from Bristol to Glasgow, at 285 miles and with an average fare of just £32, is the best value domestic route, costing 11p per mile. Still much less cost effective than most long-haul routes, but better value than a flight to Miami or Atlanta. 

What’s in an air fare?

The reason short-haul flights offer worse value is because, even though the distance is much less, airlines still need to pay taxes and airport fees.

The breakdown of a London to New York fare a few years ago by TravelZoo illustrates how slim airline profit margins can be, and how many costs cannot be avoided regardless of the length of flight.

Looking at a £690 ticket, £534.20 (77.42 per cent) went on operating costs and £151.56 (21.97 per cent) on taxes and charges, leaving a profit margin of just £4.24 (0.61 per cent).

How are the fares set?

In an incredibly complex manner. 

“Techniques such as Expected Marginal Seat Revnue (EMSR) look at the best ways to optimise fares in real time, not only on a given route, but taking into account revenue-generating opportunities across the whole airline network,” explained Robert W Mann, a former airline planning executive, to CNN.

So, for example, a flight from London to Dubai might cost the same as a much longer service to Manila, via Dubai, as the airline is pricing up the first leg to discourage those who want to fly the shorter trip, and leaving the seats for higher value customers.

It’s no surprise that an airline will price its seats according to who it thinks is flying – families and leisure passengers or business fliers.

“The London to Mallorca route, for example, has a marked leisure profile,” Stuart Barwood, founder of airline consultancy firm Travercial, told the broadcaster. “This has implication not only for fare levels but also for the way pricing changes over time.

“If the airline assumes that leisure passengers will tend to book relatively early, months before their holidays, it may be tempted to start pricing seats on that route relatively high. It would then adjust them according to the market response.”

“Meanwhile on a typical business route – let’s say London to Frankfurt – the airline may start with low prices to fill a minimum capacity, then raise prices steeply for business travellers that book at the last minute.”