Eurostar is now cutting fares from London to Paris in late July as British travellers shun the Games. Some fares have fallen by more than one-third in just two weeks. Air fares to the region, too, are falling – with some Ryanair flights to Beauvais priced at just £15.
The Independent has monitored ticket prices for departures from the UK to the French capital on the day after the opening ceremony, Saturday 27 July. Two weeks ago, The Independen t recorded the prevailing one-way fares from London St Pancras International to Paris for that specific date. The mean ticket price at the time was £229, and the lowest was £143.
Normally prices rise as the departure date approaches. But with tourism chiefs in Paris predicting a sharp drop in the normal summer levels of hotel occupancy, the average Eurostar ticket price has now dropped by £26. The cheapest one-way fare is now below £100 for the first time, at £98.
Overall, the decline in two weeks is 11 per cent. On the 6.01pm departure, the lowest ticket price has dropped by 35 per cent to £143.
Standard Premium class is cheaper too, falling by £26 to £207. Air fares are plummeting even more steeply. On Saturday 27 July, the 505-mile flight from Belfast to Beauvais in northern France – which Ryanair describes as Paris – costs £15.
The fare from Manchester is £27 and from Birmingham £35. To the more central Charles de Gaulle airport, easyJet is charging £97 for flights from Bristol. Almost half the rooms in the Frenc.
