With Eid Al Adha rapidly approaching, now could be the time to start thinking about booking a last-minute escape. Helpfully, Skyscanner has rounded up the destinations where fares have fallen most, compared to 2018. Salalah, Beirut and Helsinki come out on top when it comes to discounted flight prices, according to the travel aggregator. The biggest price drop can be found on flights to Oman with fares from Dubai to Salalah on the Omani south coast down by 36 per cent when compared to 2018 prices. The UAE <a href="https://www.thenational.ae/uae/public-and-private-sector-holiday-dates-announced-for-eid-al-adha-1.882615">holidays</a> for Eid have already been announced and the majority of workers will be off from Saturday 10 August until Tuesday 13 August. Just over an hour away, Salalah is a good pick for a place to spend the coming five-day weekend. The coastal city also enjoys cooler temperatures than the rest of the region at this time of year thanks to the Khareef season which lasts until early September. Travellers keen to check out the capital of the Dhofar province can travel with Flydubai, leaving town on Friday 9 August and returning on Monday 12 August. Fares on <a href="https://www.skyscanner.ae/">Skyscanner</a> start from Dh1,391. Another place where flight prices have fallen is Beirut where economy ticket prices have dropped by 28 per cent. Just four hours from the UAE, you can get a flight from Dubai to the Lebanese capital for Dh1,793 this Eid – departing on Saturday 10 August, and returning Tuesday 13 August. Ranking third in flight price drops according to Skyscanner is Helsinki. The Finnish city has seen fares fall by 27 per cent compared to prices in 2018. Take an after work flight on Thursday 8 August and you can spend four days taking in the endless sunshine — summer sunset in Helsinki takes place around 10pm — with fares from Dh3,338. Known for its beaches, rainforests and a favourite with halal travellers, Malaysia is also worth looking into for a last-minute trip this Eid Al Adha. Just over seven hours from Dubai, flights to Kuala Lumpur are down by 27 per cent this year and you can fly with Emirates on the morning of Friday 9 August, returning on Tuesday 13 August, with direct fares starting from Dh2,931. Finally, as tourists slowly begin to return to Sri Lanka, now could be the time to book a cut-price flight. Tickets prices for flights from Dubai to the capital of Colombo are down by 26 per cent when compared to last year's fares. Just four hours from the UAE, it is a good option for a short break. Flydubai has flights departing on Friday 9 August, returning on Tuesday 13 August with fares from Dh1,712. Other destinations where flight prices have dropped this year include Zanzibar, Athens, Hong Kong and Singapore. On the other end of the spectrum, flight prices to Sofia have almost doubled since 2018, with tickets to the Bulgarian capital now costing 49 per cent more than they did in 2018. Croatia’s Dubrovnik, Stockholm in Sweden and India’s Coimbatore are three other destinations that have seen significant price rises in flight fares from Dubai in 2019.
