Aviation Price Index

Airline flight prices are calculated using “yield management”, resulting in some of the most complex pricing algorithms in the world. There are several urban legends regarding how to find the least expensive flights: popular tips include searching on certain days of the week or at specific times of the day in the hope of lower costs. However, there is no conclusive proof associated to whether such tactics actually pay off by presenting less expensive offers. Hundreds of factors, including oil prices, popularity of the chosen route, and even the IP address from where you book your travel can have a profound effect on the cost of your ticket.

At Kiwi.com, we have made it our mission to offer passengers the best prices available in order to reach their destination. To further assist customers with their bookings, we have developed the Aviation Price Index below, detailing the countries which offer the most and least affordable flights.

We took into account domestic and international flights from 75 of the world’s most frequently visited countries, calculating an average ticket cost per 100/km of travel, using on- and off-season flight costs for over a million journeys. The research included a clear split between low cost and legacy airlines to reach a conclusive country to country price index. All currency conversions are correct on 19th August 2016*.

Kiwi.com CEO Oliver Dlouhý commented, “Understanding the least expensive countries from which to fly brings immense value to travellers when planning their next getaway. The public may never understand how and when flight tickets change in price; however, they now know which countries allow them to travel further on a budget."

# Country Domestic Flights International Flights Average cost/100 km
Low Cost cost/100 km Full-service cost/100 km Low Cost cost/100 km Full-service cost/100 km
1 India 1.75 2.06 2.73 3.48 2.51
2 Malaysia 1.79 4.49 1.63 3.77 2.92
3 Russia 5.43 4.88 2.46 5.42 4.55
4 Portugal 3.12 11.26 2.16 4.18 5.18
5 Indonesia 3.35 4.38 4.77 8.61 5.28
6 Azerbaijan 4.66 9.03 2.25 5.49 5.36
7 South Africa 4.39 7.68 4.89 5.68 5.66
8 Algeria 7.08 8.06 4.00 4.57 5.93
9 Philippines 4.04 6.38 3.03 10.51 5.99
10 Sweden 6.93 11.70 2.17 4.12 6.23
11 China 10.10 13.33 0.94 2.19 6.64
12 Bulgaria 9.58 11.63 2.17 3.37 6.69
13 Spain 6.81 10.05 2.84 7.12 6.71
14 Ukraine 8.27 10.62 4.27 4.39 6.89
15 Poland 8.19 11.60 3.50 4.69 7.00
16 Germany 7.49 12.09 3.32 7.38 7.57
17 USA 2.73 3.72 9.92 13.95 7.58
18 Brazil 3.23 5.55 9.45 12.22 7.61
19 Greece 4.82 20.16 2.38 3.79 7.79
20 Pakistan 5.09 6.81 8.94 10.61 7.86
21 Thailand 3.77 12.40 7.03 9.04 8.06
22 Mexico 6.88 14.33 5.24 6.72 8.29
23 Tunisia 14.86 15.12 2.15 2.46 8.65
24 New Zealand 5.74 18.63 5.14 5.76 8.82
25 Czech Republic 5.81 15.72 6.25 8.23 9.00
26 Italy 10.27 21.28 2.82 3.78 9.54
27 Romania 5.32 28.77 1.30 2.87 9.57
28 France 5.59 7.80 9.50 15.75 9.66
29 Kenya 12.12 12.51 6.75 7.96 9.84
30 Lithuania 6.94 18.86 7.38 7.60 10.20
31 Estonia 9.59 17.02 6.62 7.59 10.21
32 The United Kingdom 2.92 13.20 12.25 12.50 10.22
33 Mongolia 11.68 11.68 9.19 9.46 10.50
34 Cuba 12.98 14.33 6.74 8.70 10.69
35 Latvia 12.57 22.39 2.60 6.23 10.95
36 Saudi Arabia 6.58 11.60 10.41 19.05 11.91
37 Bangladesh 14.13 17.36 3.24 14.07 12.20
38 Egypt 12.69 23.51 7.03 7.39 12.66
39 Papua New Guinea 16.79 20.19 5.86 8.13 12.74
40 Norway 22.35 25.47 2.46 2.77 13.26
41 South Korea 14.29 28.33 3.02 7.96 13.40
42 Nigeria 11.61 22.43 10.34 11.03 13.85
43 Iran 9.17 17.10 10.47 18.76 13.88
44 Peru 12.50 21.54 9.60 12.11 13.94
45 Israel 13.21 28.89 6.95 8.18 14.31
46 Albania 22.61 25.72 6.28 7.28 15.47
47 Morocco 20.82 23.71 7.80 9.80 15.53
48 Belarus 16.56 16.97 14.45 14.45 15.61
49 Jordan 15.80 24.93 11.13 13.59 16.36
50 Argentina 9.56 9.61 21.52 25.24 16.48
51 Kazakhstan 11.17 51.34 3.60 5.06 17.79
52 Colombia 12.95 34.88 11.78 12.21 17.96
53 Chile 5.61 41.67 13.80 14.42 18.88
54 Moldova 20.85 26.12 11.66 17.57 19.05
55 Taiwan 12.34 17.00 14.69 34.45 19.62
56 Fiji 18.86 45.29 7.16 7.79 19.78
57 Oman 8.30 8.30 23.66 47.80 22.02
58 Turkey 16.41 58.77 5.99 6.92 22.02
59 Bolivia 16.34 21.51 22.27 28.65 22.19
60 Venezuela 12.76 50.73 16.61 18.79 24.72
61 Lebanon 43.61 44.01 3.24 9.01 24.97
62 Cyprus 44.06 47.39 4.45 6.64 25.64
63 Serbia 43.83 49.64 5.79 6.29 26.39
64 Australia 32.58 66.57 5.43 5.72 27.58
65 Solomon Islands 43.37 49.26 9.17 9.65 27.86
66 Switzerland 33.80 46.10 11.39 22.57 28.47
67 Austria 53.85 53.85 2.87 3.50 28.52
68 Denmark 20.44 47.46 17.47 31.63 29.25
69 Belgium 29.17 65.28 10.37 12.84 29.42
70 Canada 6.18 6.54 33.77 73.14 29.91
71 Japan 22.81 56.39 20.44 28.56 32.05
72 The Netherlands 21.75 70.72 13.04 25.37 32.72
73 Qatar 49.73 65.92 14.49 25.53 38.92
74 Finland 30.61 101.06 6.19 19.69 39.39
75 United Arab Emirates 140.14 170.27 7.57 8.71 81.67

Click here for a downloadable image of the above table

*Rankings were calculated by analysing the costs of over one million flights to find an average price of domestic and international flights. We analysed in separate columns the low-cost and full-service airlines, as we found it valuable for the public to make a distinction among them. We combined them for the final country to country Index total. Domestic flights were calculated by finding an average of flight costs from the country’s capital to up to five major cities within the country (where available) or a major city in a neighbouring country where no domestic flights were available, whilst international costs were calculated from all international airports in each country to up to five international hubs. All flights were checked for the same dates of travel (or neighbouring dates where necessary) on- and off-season, taking into account the same destinations and travel scheduling. Currency conversions correct on 19th August 2016.