For more than two years, the main topic of conversation pretty much everywhere has been about the impact of Covid-19.
Now that the worst of the pandemic seems to be over and people are traveling more freely again, another hot topic is on the tips of everyone’s tongues: expensive plane tickets.
People are looking for flights – sometimes their first in years – in a rush of what’s been termed “revenge travel.”
Internet searches show sky-high airfares for many routes, yet travelers with wanderlust are opting to stomach the higher costs after being grounded for so long.
Airline CEOs all agree that demand is off the charts, driven by successive waves of families and relatives reconnecting, holidays and business travel.
And there’s a notably higher uptake of the more expensive seats at the front of the plane – first and business class, along with premium economy.
It’s not uncommon to see airfares today at anywhere from double to five times their pre-pandemic levels; and 2019 is an especially unforgiving baseline, as it represented an era of peak competition between airlines.
A Mastercard Economics Institute study found the cost of flying from Singapore was on average 27% higher in April 2022 than in 2019, while flights from Australia were 20% more.
https://www.executivetraveller.com/news/why-flights-are-so-expensive-now