Why Airplane Tickets Will Soon Be Insanely Expensive Again
Prices for airplane tickets are set to soar, coming into Thanksgiving and Christmas
This article is more than 2 years old
With local and international travel in full swing, people have been enjoying the world restricted to them during the pandemic. A total of 60% of Americans said they would be traveling overseas this year. Even though travel is now on everyone’s to-do list, it could not come at a heftier price tag, with airline costs at a record high, prices for airline tickets are poised to soar, again.
Traveling internationally is 22% more expensive than in 2019, with Christmas tickets being a third more expensive. Travel-starved passengers will be unhappy to learn that travel is about to get even more costly than historically shown, especially with the holiday season approaching. Since travel got back up and running after the pandemic, it has been plagued with various problems, all of which contribute to the high cost of getting to that dream place.
During the summer, flights are always more expensive, but since the pandemic, the demand for airline tickets is at an all-time high. This strong demand, coupled with airlines having about 15% less capacity than in 2019, means that flights are less available as there are fewer seats to sell. This new type of travel is called ‘revenge travel,’ where people travel en masse for multiple holidays after being in lockdown.
Since 2019 and with the rising inflation costs due to ‘COVID-19’, ‘Brexit,’ and the war in Ukraine, if you think filling up your car is expensive, imagine filling up a plane. The rising costs of running aircraft and the rising inflation rate are significant reasons why ticket prices have increased and will continue to do so. Also, the airports and air navigation services have increased their prices, which add extra overheads to the airlines and, in turn, airline tickets.
Business travel accounted for 12% of all passengers but 75% of the profits before the pandemic. The business travel market after COVID-19 has not bounced back as expected, which has affected the profit margins of airline companies. However, with corporate travel stopped, along with the rest of us, businesses have adapted their needs and started using other methods to work with their clients overseas and have reduced business travel. Hence, prices for airline tickets have gone up.
During the pandemic, airlines drastically reduced their staff, including pilots and airport employees. Since travel has been permitted, all airlines and airports worldwide have been plagued with staffing shortages and flight cancellations. All of these cost the airlines money and add to their ever-increasing debt, causing the prices of airline tickets to surge.
It is easy to see why our fantasy holiday is 20-30% more expensive this year than in previous years, and with inflation on the rise (still) globally, those early bird bargains are not yet within reach. Experts say travel will decrease in price once the global market is stabilized and inflation begins to fall, but they are not to expect it until mid-late 2023. So until then, travelers should expect increasing airline ticket prices as thanksgiving and Christmas approaches.
