Airline ticket prices will continue to rise in the near term as airlines pass on oil prices and inflation, French aviation industry representatives warned on Friday.
When the SNCF announces an average increase in TGV fares of 5%, those for plane tickets have already jumped 18.9% from France in one year, according to the latest index published in September by the General Directorate of Civil Aviation .
Cumulatively since the beginning of the year, the price increase is 14.2% on intra-metropolitan links and 16.7% between mainland France and overseas. The increase even reaches 24.3% in the international medium radio network.
“We are forced, we have no choice but to raise the prices of plane tickets,” explained Marc Rochet, head of the Air Caraïbes and French Bee companies, on behalf of the members of the National Aviation Federation and their trades ( Fnam) during a press conference of the organization.
Oil, dollars, spare parts, salaries…
Airlines around the world, after two years of acute Covid-19 crisis that emptied their cash register, are now facing the energy crisis, with “oil having taken around 50% in a year”, underlined Mr. Rochet, while this item represents about 25% of the cost of airlines.
Added to this is the appreciation of the dollar, which has been greatly affected by a sector in which 40% of spending is made in this currency: in addition to oil, it is especially spare parts, based on raw materials such as steel and titanium that also saw their prices explode.
“We are also experiencing general inflation in salary costs (…) weighs heavily,” the company manager also pointed out, also referring to the additional costs induced, in links to Asia, by the closure of Russian airspace.
Consequently, “we must expect further price increases to simply and mechanically pass through these cost increases that we are experiencing,” warned Mr. Rochet.
“I think customers partly understand it,” and demand is not slowing except in some customer segments, he said: winter bookings “are of good quality,” reflecting a “very clear desire to travel.” especially for family and leisure reasons. to “sun” destinations and to the United States.
Source: BFM TV
