As Australia enters into the depths of winter, the idea of booking flights to Europe becomes quite appealing. Long days, sunny beaches, delicious food… The list of reasons to try and squeeze a second summer into your year goes on and on.

While flight prices spiked in the post-COVID travel boom, things have settled down. The cost of flying to Europe or anywhere else overseas now looks closer to what it was before the pandemic.

According to Flight Centre, the average price of an international airfare sold in Australia dropped almost 13% in the first three months of 2024 compared to a year earlier. This includes falls of 11.5% for Italy, 11.4% for Greece, 8.1% for the UK and 7.9% for France.

I’ve been keeping a fairly close eye on flight prices since the start of the year, partly because I’ve been thinking about going somewhere and partly because I just like to find a good deal.

From what I’ve seen, flights to Europe from Australia’s east coast capitals are pretty consistently available for under $1,000. Melbourne to Milan for $890 and Sydney to Stockholm for $902 are just a couple examples that have popped up so far in 2024.

One thing that these flights to Europe almost always have in common? They’re typically from airlines based out of China. These include the country’s ‘big three’ – Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines – all of which are state-owned.

One notable exception worth mentioning is Scoot, the low-cost airline owned by Singapore Airlines. Scoot sometimes has ridiculously low fares, like Perth to Athens for $741. This doesn’t include checked baggage, meals or possibly dignity, so be prepared to fork out more for extras.

How are these flights so cheap?

Why are cheap flights available on Chinese airlines? Here are a few potential reasons:

• Lower costs: When it comes to operating costs, China’s airlines have a significant leg up on their competitors like those in Australia, Europe and America. Lower wages are a major part of this.
• Decreased demand: International flights in and out of China are reportedly around 70% of pre-pandemic levels. It would make sense to keep prices low in an effort to drive up demand.
• Longer layovers: This will vary depending on your route, but long layovers are often a factor in cheaper flights from Chinese airlines. These can be above 24 hours in some cases.
• Different routes: While many airlines are not currently flying over Russian airspace, Chinese carriers continue to do so in many cases. This reduces flight times between Asia and Europe.

Where to find cheap flights to Europe

So how do you get yourself a ticket on one of these cheap flights to Europe? For starters, you might just happen to stumble upon a deal yourself, especially if you have some flexibility around timing and what European airport you fly into.

Kayak’s explore page can be great for locating such deals. Just enter your departure airport and a destination city, country, all of Europe or just everywhere. Then choose a date range and duration for your trip (when flying so far away, you’re probably going to want to choose the 14+ days option).

Google Flights also has a similar feature, although weirdly it limits you to searching for a two-week trip at most. This can still be a good starting off point though, just play around with different dates when you find a potential flight. Google’s date grid and price graph options are really handy for this.

Skyscanner’s everywhere search is another potential option, although this doesn’t let you search for just Europe. It also seems to struggle to find good deals over longer timeframes. Still, it’s worth a shot if you’re only in the ideas phase of trip planning.

Finally, a lesser known site called FlightList is worth checking out. It’s intended for finding one-way flights, but you can always search for both directions separately. I like how simple this site is compared to others and that it provides you with a clear list of options.

Okay, you’ve looked around and come up short. Now what? I follow a few sites that are great at spotting deals and letting people know about them. Beat That Flight, I Want That Flight and Cheap Flight Hunter all have newsletters that you can subscribe to.

Additionally, each of the above also regularly post deals on OzBargain which is another good site to monitor for cheap flights to Europe and beyond.