AN AIRLINE has been accused of pricing passengers off its flights after fares were raised from £80 to a whopping £400.

Flybe, which operates the route from Southend Airport to Dublin, is asking passengers to shell out more than £400 for a return flight from next month.

One-way flights have previously cost about £70 to £80 and were sometimes as little as £28.

Aer Lingus used to operate daily flights on the route, but since Flybe took over, this has been reduced to just three times a week.

Mark Sedgewick, 36, of Imperial Avenue, Westcliff, who regularly uses the route to visit his mother-in-law in Dublin, said: “The pricing policy is crazy, I’ve been looking at flying in early April and when I was pricing it up it came up as £470 return.

That seems ludicrous. I assumed it was a mistake.

“Normally, it can be anywhere between £70 to £110, depending on the time and how far in advance we book.

“They’ve got to compete with Ryanair at Stansted and they fly to the City from Dublin for around £80 to £100.”

The Sedgewick family say they will now book flights from Stansted or City airports due to the price rise.

Outbound flights from Southend to Dublin will cost from £221, and passengers will have to fork out from £198 to return.

Mr Sedgewick said: “When I spoke to them, they said this is going to be the pricing going forward.

“When I tried to book a flight for April, they said the plane was not close to full and I’m not surprised.

“It seems to me like they may want to close that route. It seems really underhanded and I think they will close it down saying there is no demand.”

Stobart Air at Southend Airport agreed a ten-year partnership with Flybe in March 2014.

The airline also flies from Southend to Groningen in the Netherlands, Münster Osnabruck, in Germany, plus Rennes and Caen Normandie, in France.

Flybe declined to comment.