HOLIDAYMAKERS face fresh misery after pints at Wetherspoons’ airport branches topped £7 for the first time.
Cash-strapped Brits will pay a jaw-dropping £7.10 a pint for a trendy Leffe beer at Gatwick, Stansted, Heathrow and Edinburgh airports.
The Belgian brew has been hiked by 25p – or 3.5 per cent – from £6.85 taking it above the £7 mark as the cost-of-living crisis continues to bite.
The increase comes just six months after The Sun revealed prices were being jacked up by 7.5 per cent – or up to 29p a pint.
Other drinks at the so-called budget pub chain – including Stella Artois, San Miguel and Corona – are now creeping towards the £7 landmark at £6.45-a-pint.
The booze blow comes as trippers reeled from a string of recent financial blows this summer.
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Flight prices to Spain, Greece and Italy have soared by 70 per cent and the price of a package holiday is up by 20 per cent or more since last summer.
And a week in Greece – recently hit by wildfires and mass evacuations in 45 DegC heat – has rocketed by 30 per cent.
Huge demand was said to be the driving force behind the price hikes coupled with inflationary pressures.
The surge in spending comes despite a series of crises hitting the travel sector.
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Last month EasyJet was forced to cancel 1,700 summer flights due to air traffic control disruption, leaving thousands of passengers facing holiday chaos.
Eight major airports across the UK have also hiked the cost of “kiss and fly” passenger drop-off fees with one airport now charging £5 for a 10-minute drop-off.
Martyn James, Sun Squeeze Team member, said: “For many Brits, a pint at the airport is a bit of a tradition – especially after the stress of getting through security.
“But hearing Wetherspoon’s is going to be charging them up to £7.10 for an airport pint will be hard to swallow for many cash-strapped travellers.
Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown: “Brits hoping to start their holidays with a relaxing pint in the airport will need deeper pockets this summer.
“With pint prices at some of Wetherspoon’s airport locations reaching £7 a pint, summer sun-seekers are bound to be left with a bad taste in their mouths.
Wetherspoons, like many other pub chains and retailers, has been hit hard by rising costs fuelled by inflation.
Boss Tim Martin also said far more people now drink in their homes rather than in pubs and has put 32 boozers up for sale – with more closures planned.
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Wetherspoon’s said: “Airport and central London prices are higher than average, reflecting higher rents.
“But our pints start at £4.85 for Greene King IPA, £5.30 for Bud Light and Carlsberg for £6.15.”
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