Although flying is no longer a luxury experience, air tickets are still much more expensive than land transportation.

During the peak tourist season, the most common phrase Feishen hears is, can you buy cheap tickets?

So are air tickets expensive?

Do airline companies really make a lot of money from air tickets?

Today, Feifeisen will reveal to you the secrets of this ticket.

When it comes to air ticket prices, most people's first reaction is that the price of gas is so high, so of course the ticket price will not be cheap.

Is this really the case?

In fact, fuel is only a small part of it.

Take Airbus’ latest aircraft, the A320neo, as an example.

It can carry 6,400 gallons of fuel, which is equivalent to 376 full-filled Toyota Camry sedans.

A rough calculation shows that the A320 aircraft consumes about 1.5 gallons of fuel per mile, which means it can fly 0.67 miles per gallon.

If you fly from New York to Washington, the Camry car can make about 49 round trips between New York and Los Angeles with the amount of fuel required.

However, we need to note that the car can only carry five passengers.

However, it can carry more than 150 passengers.

According to the U.S. Transportation Administration, airlines pay less than $3 per passenger for fuel.

On the route from New York to Washington, the fuel cost is actually only about US$2.50, but the actual fare paid by passengers is nearly US$100.

So, in addition to fuel costs, what other airline operating costs are included in each fare?

Let me mention here that when it comes to ticket prices, the relevant data will be adjusted according to market conditions. What this article talks about is to provide you with a reference.

Through simple analysis, we can see that the structure of a ticket cost makes it easier for everyone to understand why your flight cost is so high.

Crew costs.

The annual salary of an American pilot is about $80,000.

On average, each flight segment is about $44/hour.

A plane is equipped with at least two pilots, and the crew cost of flying from New York to Washington is approximately 88 hours.

Assuming that the passenger plane is fully loaded, a total of at least 4 flight attendants are needed.

The flight cost for a flight attendant is 38 hours, and the total flight cost per flight attendant is 152 hours.

Calculating this, the total flight cost for the crew and flight attendants is $240.

If calculated based on 154 seats, the cost paid by each passenger is US dollars.

Add to that the previous fuel cost of $2.50, and the total fare cost is now $2.50.

Airport costs.

New York's JFK Airport charges a departure fee of 6.33 per aircraft (per 1,000 pounds). Let's take the Airbus model as an example.

Airbus weighs in pounds, which means that every time a flight takes off, the airline pays the airport a total of $1,089.

Converted to each passenger, you need to pay 7 US dollars.

These fees include bridge usage fees, equipment fees and other related necessary airport fees.

For the same reason, Washington Airport also charges relevant landing fees.

Converted into cost, each passenger needs to pay another US$6.50.

Our total fare cost is now 17.5 tax cost.

Different countries have different tax policies.

Let’s take the United States as an example.

The simplest tax is the domestic passenger air ticket tax, which accounts for 7.5% of the ticket price.

These taxes are uniformly administered by the Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA.

If the plane takes off and lands at a rural airport, according to relevant management regulations, you will also have to pay taxes and fees on the ticket price.

These two taxes have nothing to do with the airport.

For domestic segments in the United States, a U.S. dollar tax will also be levied. If you are going to Hawaii or Alaska, you will have to pay an additional $8.70.

In terms of security inspection, since September 11, the Department of Homeland Security has increased the security inspection fee by US$5.6. The above fees are only applicable to domestic segments.

If you fly from New York to Paris, you will also have to pay US$17.7 for international transportation taxes, US$5.5 for customs clearance, US$5 for animal and plant inspection and quarantine, US$1 for immigration inspection, and US$14 for French civil aviation-related taxes.

Based on the above related taxes and fees, a rough calculation shows that the air ticket price including taxes and fees is already 33 aircraft costs.

We all know that aircraft procurement costs are extremely expensive.

One plane is worth over $100 million.

The service life of an aircraft is not determined by flight time, but by flight cycles.

Simply put, the process from takeoff to landing.

Manufacturers measure aircraft life not by flight time, but by how many takeoffs and landings the aircraft has completed.

This is because every takeoff and landing of a flight is accompanied by pressurization in the cabin, which will have an impact on the aircraft structure.

Regardless of whether the aircraft flight is 30 minutes or a 9-hour transoceanic flight, the impact of fatigue damage to various structures is the same.

Back to the aircraft, according to the manufacturer's manual, it can fly 60,000 cycles. We divide the total aircraft purchase price by the flight cycles and find that the cost of flying each segment is US$1,783.

Equivalent to each passenger, the cost of using the aircraft is US$11.5.

So, the total fare is now 44.5 maintenance cost.

In order to maintain the airworthiness of the aircraft and ensure the safety of the aircraft.

Airlines are required to conduct regular mechanical inspections of aircraft.

Roughly speaking, the airframe maintenance cost is approximately US$646, aviation material reserves are US$276, engine maintenance costs are US$596, and overhaul and inspection costs are US$603.

The total maintenance cost is US$2,121, which is equivalent to US$14 per passenger.