When is the cheapest time of year for UK to Australia flights?
The cheapest time of year for UK to Australia flights is usually November. But you can also find cheaper fares in May, June and October.
Flights from the UK to Australia are expensive – especially since the Covid pandemic, when fare prices have gone up considerably.
Before the pandemic, you could often find sale fares on the London to Sydney route for around £800 return in economy. Now, you’re extremely lucky to find London to Sydney flights for below £1,000.
Cheapest months for UK to Australia flights
With flights to Australia getting more expensive, there’s something to be said for timing. Some periods of the year are cheaper for UK to Australia flights than others. Traditionally, the cheapest periods have been after Easter to mid-June, plus October and November.
Both are the shoulder season in Australia – well away from the summer peak, but not exactly the dead of winter in the southern states either. These aren’t bad timings, either. Northern Australia is a great bet from mid-May to mid-June, and the southern states are pretty good in November.
Tick off 9 Australian bucket list experiences
- Take Blue Mountains day tour from Sydney – with kangaroo-feeding at a wildlife park, Scenic World tickets and a Parramatta River cruise.
- Snorkel or dive on the Great Barrier Reef from Cairns.
- Do Australia’s most spectacular drive on a Great Ocean Road day tour from Melbourne.
- Drive along the beach on a 4WD day tour of Fraser Island, the world’s biggest sand island.
- Have a dune-top barbecue dinner and stargazing session in the shadow of Uluru.
- See penguins on Phillip Island – and more native wildlife at the Moonlit Sanctuary – on a day trip from Melbourne.
- Go snorkelling, sandboarding and kayaking on Moreton Island from Brisbane.
- Meet gloriously cute quokkas on Rottnest Island near Perth with a ferry and bike hire package.
- Kayak with dolphins in Byron Bay.
Month-by-month prices for London to Sydney flights
But are fare prices on UK to Australia routes still sticking the same pattern? Let’s test. Checking on 22 May 2023, Australia Travel Questions searched using Kayak for one-stop flights, with bookings direct via airlines. The dates used were the first of each month, coming back on the 21st. These were the lowest London to Sydney flight prices by month.
- June: £1,032.
- July: £1,083.
- August: £1,644.
- September: £1,038.
- October: £1,121.
- November: £919.
- December: £1,160.
- January: £1.057.
- February: £1,032.
- March: £965.
- April: £1,125.
- May: Unavailable, as beyond the usual 330 day flight booking window.
Are UK to Australia flight prices getting more expensive?
Obviously, this is very much rule of thumb research, with different dates probably providing different results. Notably, there were considerably cheaper deals available later in October. Also, it’s difficult to get a gauge whether the old pattern of May/ June prices being lower holds when searching so close to the departure date in 2023, and when 2024 flights are not yet available.
But there seem to be a few patterns worth noting. Firstly, prices seem to be levelling out somewhat between the seasons (apart from in wildly expensive August). Secondly, November is still the sweet spot for cheap UK to Australia flights. Thirdly, flights from the UK to Australia are significantly more expensive than they used to be.
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