Cheap flights that cost less than UK train fares including Poland and Estonia

Cheap flights are currently on offer and cheaper than UK train fares for spring 2022 – the Mirror compared the cost including city break destinations to Poland, Estonia and more

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It’s cheaper to jet off on holidays to Europe, enjoy a several nights’ stay and then head back to the UK than it is to take the train, analysis by the Mirror has found.

The enormous difference between the cost of travelling by train – which is much more environmentally per mile – than by plane underscores what Which? magazine calls the “near impossible” decision travellers face.

The issue was brought to light this week when Sunderland fan James Jelly booked himself and his girlfriend on a flight from Newcastle to Menorca, and then on to London the next day after a night’s sleep and breakfast.

It cost him just £51, and meant he’d get to London in time to see his team play at Wembley.

In comparison the cheapest prices showing on The Trainline on Monday had a one-way journey from Sunderland to King’s Cross on Friday for £83, and on Saturday for £69.

From Newcastle it showed the same route for £79 on Friday, £54 on Saturday.

While clearly much cheaper for James and his girlfriend, the flights will have produced half a tonne of Co2 – around 1/32th of the globe heating gas the average Brit dumps into the atmosphere each year.

In comparison the train journey for two produces just 34kg – 14 times less than the plane route they took.

The Mirror has unearthed more plane journeys available on Thursday that highlight just how cheap flying now is compared to going by train, despite the huge impact it has on the environment.

Flying from Newcastle to Gdansk in Poland on May 23 and then heading to London two days later costs £12 and 238kg of Co2, with accommodation in the city available for just £16 a night.

The cheapest train from Newcastle to London on May 23 costs £45 and 17kg of Co2 if booked today, and does not include two night’s stay in a beautiful Polish city.

Also on May 23 you can jet off from Leeds to Vilnius in Lithuania on a Ryanair flight, have a quick stopover in the airport and then fly to London Stansted on WizzAir (289kg/Co2)

This will only cost you £15 – half as much as the cheapest train ticket currently on sale (11kg/Co2).

Another way to get to the Capital is to hop aboard a Ryanair flight from John Lennon Airport in Liverpool to Tallinn, spend two hours looking at the Estonian capital through the airport windows, and then head to London Gatwick (296kg/Co2).

This costs £31 – just slightly less than the very reasonable £33 train ticket (12kg/Co2) available for the same day.

If you want to fly from Edinburgh to London for a short stay and then back again, it costs around £60 (164kg/Co2) at the end of May.

To make the same journey on train, on the same days, currently costs twice as much. (46kg/Co2).

Jetting off from Exeter in Devon to Newcastle on May 28 and coming back three days later will set you back £67 (232kg/Co2) on easyJet.

Without a railcard, the same journey costs at least £215 (41kg/Co2) on rail.

A study by Which? last year also underscored quite how bad the problem has got, and how would-be eco-conscious passengers are being lured onto planes due to the high cost of train tickets.

It found that train fares on popular UK routes are 50% more expensive than plane fares, despite rail journeys causing 80% lower carbon dioxide emissions.

The Which? study examined 10 routes within the UK and found that eight were cheaper by plane.

Travelling from Birmingham to Newquay cost just £67 on a plane, but £180 on a train.

Heading from Bristol to Newcastle via rail cost more than double the air ticket.

The return plane journey resulted in 203kg of CO2 per person, compared with 33kg for the train.

“As the pandemic continues to cause uncertainty for international travel, many of us are taking holidays closer to home this year,” said Rory Boland, the travel editor at Which?

“Travellers who choose to take the train face significantly higher fares and journey times, putting those who want to lessen their environmental impact at a disadvantage.”

One technique that might reduce the amount of Co2 being pumped into the atmosphere by airplanes would be putting a frequent-flyer tax on air travel.

Currently only 15% of people in the country take 70% of flights.

Green campaigners have also argued that higher taxes on private jet usage could help a means of travel which is terrible for the environment.

The Conservative government seems to taking the economy in the opposite direction however.

Last March it announced plans to cut air passenger duty tax on domestic flights, while increasing rail fares.