I’m old enough to remember when air tickets were a single price, irrespective of when you booked. More recently, it became the ‘done thing’ to wait until the last minute to grab a bargain. But that’s all changed gain now, and the economics of it became subject of an academic study recently.

Professor Claudio Piga, an economics expert from Keele University, claims the best time to book seats is 10 days before take-off. He looked at fares offered by Ryanair at different times of the year and whether making last-minute bookings meant customers were more likely to get better deals. The study showed Ryanair tends to increase prices by 50 to 75 per cent a few days before a flight. Ten days prior to departure is the optimum time to book in most cases.