According to the top airline executives, the air travel, which is quite expensive currently, could become even pricier in the near future.
The potential price increases across the airline industry could be triggered by soaring aviation fuel costs and air carriers’ financial difficulties caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic, the director general of the انٽرنيشنل ايئر ٽرانسپورٽ ايسوسيئيشن (IATA), William Walsh said.
Due to United States’ capacity to refine crude oil into jet fuel dropping to its lowest level since 2014, because of refinery closures in recent years, airline ticket prices in the US spiked by 25% in the past year, the biggest annual jump since 1989, and have continued to climb higher this year.
The war waged by Russia in Ukraine is another factor driving up global air travel costs, Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said in a recent interview.
According to Qatar Airways CEO, Russian aggression in Ukraine will “fuel inflation, putting more pressure on the supply chain,” and lead to instability in the oil market prices.
Having to use alternative routes to avoid flying through Ukrainian and Russian airspace is yet another factor that contributes to the rise of air travel prices, with flights from London to Delhi, for example, now making a major detour, that adds several extra hours of flight time, and leads to significantly higher jet fuel consumption.
It’s also a problem of simple supply and demand. Leisure travel demand has fully rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, but the supply of flights is still down 15-20% because airlines are still short on pilots, planes, and ground crew.
“The demand is off the charts,” Ed Bastian, ڊيلٽا ايئر لائينز CEO said in July.
High demand, in conjunction with low supply leads to higher airfares.
Air travel is also not immune to the skyrocketing inflation, which is moving at its fastest rate in the last forty years.
All things considered, it seems that the chances of airline passengers getting some much-needed relief with the cost of flying are pretty slim. At least in the near future.
هن آرٽيڪل مان ڇا وٺو:
- Due to United States' capacity to refine crude oil into jet fuel dropping to its lowest level since 2014, because of refinery closures in recent years, airline ticket prices in the US spiked by 25% in the past year, the biggest annual jump since 1989, and have continued to climb higher this year.
- Having to use alternative routes to avoid flying through Ukrainian and Russian airspace is yet another factor that contributes to the rise of air travel prices, with flights from London to Delhi, for example, now making a major detour, that adds several extra hours of flight time, and leads to significantly higher jet fuel consumption.
- The war waged by Russia in Ukraine is another factor driving up global air travel costs, Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said in a recent interview.
