Czechs again buy tickets in advance. However, sales are still below pre-Covid numbers

After the uncertainty of the pandemic years, Czech travelers no longer feared buying tickets even several months in advance. Ticket sellers, who expect sales to increase further in the coming months, said interest in flights in the first two months of the year has also increased year-on-year, from 20 to 60 percent, depending on the seller. However, January and February sales did not match pre-Covid numbers.

The big change compared to last year in customer behavior is buying tickets in advance, which, according to Student Agency Travel Agency sales manager Martina Hrnčířová, means a return to virus-causing shopping habits. “At the end of last year, tickets to exotic destinations and mainly the United States began to be sold, and in January passenger interest in these tickets remained. As for ticket sales for the summer season, we are already registering interest in them. And compared to last year, when they started selling only at the end of April.

Josef Trygbal, director of the Letuska.cz portal, said that the biggest interest at the end of the year is tickets to European destinations thanks to lower purchase prices. Of the cities, mainly Paris, tourists are generally drawn to southern European countries such as Spain or Italy. There is also great interest from non-European countries in holding Easter in Egypt.

Summer date ticket sales are primarily driven by long distance lines. Hrnčířová said that passengers buy tickets for long-haul flights in advance because now they are cheaper. According to the sellers’ data, there is significant interest in the United States, Mauritius and Japan. Airline bookings to Thailand quadrupled year-over-year, according to Mario Gavira, vice president of growth at Kiwi.com. Compared to previous seasons, Croatia entered the category of best-selling European destinations. According to Trejbal, there is also interest in the new line to Seoul, which starts operating this afternoon.

With the summer flight schedule, which started at Prague Airport on Sunday, sellers are anticipating another increase in sales. “Since the second half of March, we have been witnessing the second wave of demand for this year, which seems stronger. Despite the economic crisis, ticket sales are higher than last year and will continue to grow. We expect peak sales in May,” Tribal said. Sales should also be supported. For the summer months by halting the increase in ticket prices, which Trejbal expects due to heavy competition from carriers.

Starting Sunday, Prague Airport offers direct flights to 152 destinations, five more than last year. “Prague Airport can handle more than thirteen million passengers in a whole year. We are still recording a high demand for outbound tourism to our usual holiday destinations,” said Jaroslav Filip, Director of Aviation Business at Prague Airport. Last year, he dealt The airport with 10.7 million passengers, which was still less than the figures for 2019. At that time, Prague Airport handled 17.8 million passengers.