The airlines that charge most for food and drink – and which mark-up items by up to 8,900%

THE saying “it pays to be prepared” could have been made for plane food on budget flights.

The mark-up for snacks and drinks can be up to 8,900 per cent more than on the ground.

New research by has looked at the price of popular food and drink items on planes like Ryanair, easyJet and British Airways.

Snacks can be up to 900 per cent pricier than in a supermarket.

For instance, a muffin on an easyJet flight costs £2.50, while the same treat bought in a pack of four at a supermarket could cost just 25p.

Similarly, a packet of peanuts on a Flybe flight cost £1.80, compared to 48p if bought at a supermarket.

Ryanair charges £2.23 for a 40g pack of crisps, but if you buy the same individual pack on the ground, it can cost as little as 50p.

If passengers are after something a little bit sweeter, airlines can charge up to £1.80 for a chocolate bar compared with the 50p in shops.

A cup of tea is the real stinger though – costing passengers up to 8,900 per cent more than it has to if they brought their own teabag and asked for some free hot water from cabin crew.

Jet2 charges its passengers £2.70 for a cup of tea, but if you buy a box of 40 PG Tips Pyramid tea bags from Tesco, Asda or Sainsbury’s for £1.35, it works out at just 3p for a cup.

EasyJet and Flybe are slightly cheaper, however passengers are still charged £2.50 per cup, with British Airways coming in with the cheapest at £2.30, a mark-up of 7,566 per cent.

The prices of many onboard snacks have gone up over the last two years too.

The biggest price rise is for chocolate bars, which in 2016 cost £1.20, but have now increased by as much as £1.80 – an increase of 50 per cent.

However, in some cases the price of a cup of coffee has gone down – easyJet now charges £2.50 instead of £2.70.

Neil Cartwright, travel expert at KAYAK.co.uk, said, ““By planning in advance and taking your own snacks, you can end saving a lot of money that can then be used on holiday instead.

“It’s slightly trickier with drinks as you can’t take these through security, but purchasing these in the terminal before getting on the plane can help you avoid the sky-high in-flight prices.”

If it's long haul flights you're into, we had the chance to fly on the first 17-hour direct flight from Australia to London with Qantas, and reviewed the journey.

Or if you're keen on making a pretty penny, you should try flying on United Airlines, as they recently paid a lady £7,000 to give up her seat on an overbooked flight.

Further your search for savings, and have a look at the best value UK airports overall for flight fares, car parks and drop-off fees.