Airline ticket prices have risen sharply over the past few years, and the trend is not over yet. According to the Belgian statistics bureau Statbel, the average cost of tickets rose by 11,1% in April. That makes you pay as much as 71% more for a plane ticket today than you did 20 years ago, according to Statbel.
Although those higher ticket prices are not deterring travelers, air travel is clearly on the rise, and there is no longer any question of flight embarrassment because most airlines also look at the future through rose-colored glasses.
Higher costs and taxes
The price increase is largely due to increased personnel costs (due in part to wage indexation or a mechanism to adjust wages for inflation), higher maintenance costs, and the introduction of various environmental taxes.
Moreover, since January, Europe has also required that 2% of the fuel used must be sustainable (up from 6% in 2030). However, these Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs) are four times more expensive than conventional kerosene, and these costs are obviously passed on to the traveler as well.
Airlines also sometimes prefer to sell fewer tickets but more expensive ones. For example, a half-full flight with tickets three times more expensive is more profitable than a full flight at the standard rate.
Many additional costs
In recent years, additional costs have also been added, such as seat selection, extra hand luggage, insurance, etc. TestAankoopTestAchat also started a lawsuit last week against Irish low-cost airline Ryanair for misleading practices in the booking process. The fact that Ryanair charges money for hand luggage bothers the consumer organization.
European regulations require the full price to be shown in advance when booking a flight so that consumers can compare. This is not the case with Ryanair, argues TestAankoop, which also refers to the European Court of Justice, which states that hand luggage of a reasonable size must be an integral part of the ticket price.
Although the era when tickets cost just 10 euros seems to be over, you can still find low prices. In general, the offer for promotional tickets has been greatly reduced, something Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary also confirmed. There are now only 10 to 15 seats left at knock-down prices, compared to two or three times more a few years ago.
Rosy outlook
Despite all those extra costs, flying remains wildly popular. This can be seen not only in the increasing number of passengers, but also in the occupancy rate. In the 1990s, occupancy rates were 60 to 65%; today, they are flirting with more than 80%.
And Brussels Airlines is aiming for double-digit growth in capacity and turnover for 2025. The number of passengers should pass the 9 million mark this year, after nearly 8,4 million in 2024. In this regard, the airline is far from alone in its rosy outlook. In general, it is expected that the number of passengers worldwide could double from pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, amounting to more than 8 billion passengers a year.
If current trends continue, this number could rise even further, to more than 16 billion per year by 2050.
