SCOTS holidaymakers are being forced to fork out up to £1,500 more for peak-time breaks than their English neighbours.
Those flying from Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen are being charged more than those choosing to check in at Manchester or London; despite demands that the Office of Fair Trading reign in the practise.
Last night politicians accused holiday companies of taking advantage of Scottish travellers.
Scots pay up to £1,500 more for a foreign holiday
Labour MP Frank Roy, who represents Motherwell and Wishaw, said: “The hidden fees and landing charges some companies charge Scottish holidaymakers, are nothing short of scandalous.
“That a flight from Gatwick to New York is cheaper than a flight from Glasgow to New York, despite being 400 miles shorter and the Gatwick flight path actually going over Glasgow, highlights just how unfair the system is.”
A flight for a family of four from Aberdeen to a hotel in Alcudia, Majorca would cost £1,523 more than for the same holiday, flying our days earlier, from Gatwick.
The Scottish travellers would pay a total of £3,517 for an all-inclusive break at a three-star hotel, while those travelling from London would pay just £1,994.
Lynne Paterson found she would be around £600 out of pocket to fly her family to Disneyland from Scotland.
The shocked mum, who lives in Kirkintilloch, found it was cheaper to take husband Stuart and daughter Holly via the UK capital than to fly direct from Glasgow.
She said: “It was a couple of hundred pounds a head. It’s a total rip off.
“Isn’t it a shorter route to America from Scotland than from the south of England?
“It’s just another example of Scotland getting the rough end of the stick.”
A spokesman from Consumer Focus Scotland said: “Scottish Travellers too often face extra or hidden charges.
“Any additional charges added to the cost of the tickets should also only reflect the actual cost to the company.”
But Sean Tipton of the Association of British Travel Agents, said travel firms had to charge more for Scottish flights as they were less likely to have a full plane.
He said: “Airports in the south east of England have such a massive catchment area that they’re much more likely to have full flights.
“If you are flying out of Scotland you can’t guarantee that.
“If travel firms were making excessive profits, someone would come in and undercut them.”
The revelation follows last week’s news that some firms charge up to four times as much for a holiday taken during the summer than they would for a term-time holiday.
Ten years ago the Office of Fair Trading ruled that companies were not breaking the law by charging Scottish tourists more for package holidays.
