Tourists told to brace for Rome flight price hikes as mourners pay respects to Pope

have been warned by a travel expert about a hike in flight prices to Rome as to pay their respects to the late . A travel expert warned there will be a "sharp increase" in prices to the city, speaking exclusively to the Express.

Anton Radchenko, CEO of said: "With the Pope's funeral expected to take place in Rome, we anticipate a sharp increase in demand for flights into the city, particularly at Fiumicino (FCO) and Ciampino (CIA) airports. That level of demand frequently drives up fares, especially for last-minute bookings from across Europe and abroad." There are currently no available flights from Birmingham to Rome from Thursday to Saturday on Skyscanner. The earliest flights from Birmingham start up again on Sunday, from £101 with Jet2 at the time of writing.

Reasonable prices are available from other UK airports ahead of the funeral, with one of the cheapest flights departing from London Stansted for £65 on Friday with .

is offering flights for £59 from Manchester on the same day, at the time of writing, while Jet2 is offering flights at £57 from Leeds.

Tens of thousands of pilgrims have arrived in Rome to attend the funeral of Pope Francis, which the Vatican confirmed will .

Air flight price hikes are also expected when the Conclave of Cardinals meets to choose a new pontiff from May 5.

Francis's coffin was taken to St Peter's Basilica on Wednesday morning at 9am (08:00 BST), and will remain there until the burial for the public to pay their respects.

Prince William and will be in attendance, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will also make the trip.

US President Donald Trump and French counterpart Emmanuel Macron both announced their intention to attend before the date was confirmed.