When easyJet released their Summer 2025 flights back in September 2024, I decided to track several popular school holiday routes to see whether the release price was indeed the best time to book – or not.
How early do easyJet release their summer flights?
easyJet releases their flights in batches, several times across the year, and they tend to land 10-13 months before their departure date.
I’ve actually written up everything you need to know about easyJet’s release schedule and when may be the cheapest time to book below.
When did easyJet release their summer 2025 flights?
easyJet were scheduled to go live with their Summer 2025 flights at 6AM on Tuesday 3 September 2024.
What flights did you track?
I tracked eight flights in total, but we’re going to focus on just three flights since their departure dates have passed, meaning we can look at all the possible pricing.
These flights were:
From | To | Depart | Return |
|---|---|---|---|
Glasgow, Scotland | Hurghada, Egypt | 27 June 2025 | 4 July 2025 |
Edinburgh, Scotland | Heraklion, Crete | 28 June 2025 | 5 July 2025 |
Belfast, Northern Ireland | Palma, Mallorca | 5 July 2025 | 12 July 2025 |
All three of these flights are in theie respective country’s school summer holidays.
The Flights I Tracked For 10 Months
Flight 1
Glasgow to Hurghada, Egypt
Fri 27 June – Fri 4 July 2025
Key findings:
- At 7am on the day of release, the return flight between Glasgow and Hurghada cost £291.30, and by the end of the same day it had risen to £306.60.
- Prices continued to climb over the following months, reaching a peak of £557 in November – that’s a 91% increase from the initial fare.
- The lowest recorded price came nearly six months later on 28 February 2025, at £245 for the return.
- However, from March onward, prices fluctuated between £300 and £500, never quite returning to the February low.
- By June, just two weeks before departure, fares were hovering around £373 – 28% more expensive than at release.
Summary:
Booking on the day of release meant paying £291.30, which was 18.9% more than the lowest recorded fare of £245. However, despite that lower price appearing nearly six months later, it was only available briefly.
In fact, across the 46 data points collected between release and late June, the price was lower than the release fare just 5 times – meaning it was more expensive than the release day price around 89% of the time.
Conclusion:
Whilst it wasn’t the cheapest option, booking at release protected travellers from the much higher prices that followed, and offered peace of mind during a highly volatile pricing period.
Flight 2
Edinburgh to Heraklion, Crete
Sat 28 June – Sat 5 July 2025
Key findings:
- At 7am on the day of release, the return flight from Edinburgh to Heraklion cost £467.08. By 7pm that same day, it had increased to £495.89 – a £28.81 jump in just 12 hours.
- Prices remained high for several weeks but began to fall rapidly from mid-September, hitting £162 – the lowest recorded price – on 19 October 2024.
- The price stayed low across several months, fluctuating mostly between £160 and £250, before climbing again in April and hovering between £200 and £350 in the final months before departure.
- By mid-June, two weeks before the flight, the return fare was £181 – still £286 cheaper than release day.
Summary:
Booking on the day of release meant paying £467.08 for the return flight, which was 188.4% more than the lowest recorded fare of £162.
Across 83 price checks between release and June, the return flight was cheaper than the release fare 77 times – meaning it was less expensive 93% of the time.
Conclusion:
This flight showed consistent downward movement in price after release, making it clear that waiting was the better strategy. With prices lower nearly every time checked, booking on release day would have meant missing out on much better deals.
Flight 3
Belfast to Palma, Majorca
Fri 5 July – Fri 12 July 2025
Key findings:
- At 7am on the day of release, the return fare from Belfast to Majorca was £275.48. This was the same at 7pm.
- Compared to the other flights, prices fluctuated much less. The lowest recorded price was £179 on 27 April 2025 – just over two months before departure.
- For the majority of the tracking period, fares sat between £240 and £300. By mid-June, return flights were around £233.
Summary:
Booking on the day of release meant paying £275.48, which was 53.9% more than the lowest recorded fare of £179.
Across 24 tracked price points, the fare was lower than the release day price 13 times – meaning it was cheaper 54% of the time.
Conclusion:
This flight showed more stable pricing overall, with a modest saving available to those who waited. While not a dramatic difference either way, the data suggests there was a reasonable chance of securing a better fare post-release – though it wasn’t guaranteed.
My Overall Conclusion
Well, I could not have picked three flights with three more different results could I?! I think this just sums up how difficult it is to predict flight prices these days because quite simply, the algorithms have got far too clever!
Route | Release Price | Lowest Price | Highest Price | Average Price | % of Dates Cheaper Than Release |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Flight 1: Glasgow – Hurghada | £291.30 | £245 | £557 | £409.06 | 11% (5 out of 46) |
Flight 2: Edinburgh – Heraklion | £467.08 | £162 | £495.89 | £271.72 | 93% (77 out of 83) |
Flight 3: Belfast – Palma | £275.48 | £179 | £364 | £272.11 | 54% (15 out of 28) |
Can we learn anything from this?
Whilst the results for each flight do differ, I think there are some things we can learn from this.
A surge in demand will increase the price
The first is that the only trend that ties all three flights together, is the fact they all do go up in price post release, and then dip back down. Of course, they all do so on very different timelines, but I think the increased demand due to their release is definitely one of the explanations for this hike in interest.
You need to get in there early for cheap release prices
I was up and ready to jump on the flight bookings at 6am – the time easyJet had declared was when the flights would go live. However, for me on desktop, they took a while to come through and so I didn’t log the prices until around 7am.
I then found out that people had been able to access flights earlier on the app, and so it’s likely that prices may have already gone up by the time I had logged them.
I think this is certainly the case for Flight 2, Edinburgh to Heraklion, as I can’t imagine any world where £467 is considered ‘cheap’.
Therefore, I would say that the claims that cheap fares will last for a couple of hours is probably a little too lenient. I would advise you logging in on both your desktop and app at least a couple of hours before the official time – and keep hitting refresh.
If you miss the ‘cheap’ release fares, you might be best waiting
For peak summer routes, I think anything under £150 return can be considered as a good price but if you’re finding the prices are much higher than that, it may be that you’ve already become victim to dynamic pricing!
So, it might be that you should track prices and wait until demand has died down. If you can hold your nerve!
Release day fares have their perks
Not only can they guarantee peace of mind, but they’re often a better price than what you’ll pay if you left it until the last minute.
So should you book an easyJet flight on its release day?
If you can get in there early and score a return flight for cheap, then I say go for it. From the flights shown above, I think it’s fair to say that £200 marks the price where you’re starting to pay for peace of mind rather than the cheapest possible price.
However, the pricing strategy could be different this year, and you may well decide that paying a bit extra is well worth the cost to not have to keep checking.
Furthermore, my top advice if you do choose to book is to lock it in, and then don’t look again.
