This is one of the conclusions of a Greenpeace study on the topic, which states that low-cost flights are up to 26 times cheaper than train travel, "fuelling climate injustice and exposing Europe's broken travel system."

The study analyses 142 routes in 31 European countries and concludes that flights are predominantly cheaper than train travel on 54% of the 109 cross-border rail routes analysed, with low-cost airlines dominating "through unfair pricing."

According to a Greenpeace statement, this situation "is not due to [commercial] efficiency, but to political inaction that allows airlines to undermine rail transport at the expense of the planet."

Greenpeace believes that there is "a tax system in Europe that rewards cheap flights that harm the climate."

The report states that low-cost airlines, such as Ryanair, Wizz Air, Vueling, and easyJet, "dominate the European skies," with ticket prices often lower than airport and ticket taxes.

"These prices exist only due to the exemption from taxes on aviation fuel and because international air tickets are VAT-exempt. In contrast, rail operators often pay VAT in full, [bearing] rising energy costs and high rail access fees," he emphasizes.

Greenpeace found that on 54% of cross-border routes, flying was cheaper on at least six out of nine days. Fares were checked for nine different days for each route, at different booking periods.

Portugal

In Portugal, only four routes were analysed, including two domestic ones. Of the two routes connecting Portugal and Spain, Lisbon-Madrid was found to be predominantly cheaper by train than by plane, while the other, Porto-Madrid, was predominantly more expensive by rail. In 2023, this route was always more expensive by train, and the situation has improved slightly since then, the report highlights.

Meanwhile, Greenpeace notes, trains were always or almost always cheaper on only 29 (39%) of the cross-border routes, many of them in Central and Eastern Europe—especially the Baltic States and Poland. In France, Spain, and the United Kingdom, trains were more expensive than flights on up to 95% of cross-border routes.

Train travel can cost up to 26 times more than flights—as the most extreme example found by Greenpeace shows: from Barcelona to London costs just £14.99 (about €17) by plane, compared to €389 by train.