Airport charges remain flat while airfares surge alarmingly, threatening industry recovery

Airport charges remain flat while airfares surge alarmingly, threatening industry recovery

Airport charges have remained flat even as inflation rates have soared over 10% since 2019

Airlines are capitalising on the lack of competition and pent-up demand to recover losses

Hong Kong SAR: Airport charges have remained steady since the pandemic, while airfares have soared above pre-pandemic levels as major airlines reap record profits hampering the aviation industry recovery, reveals ACI Asia-Pacific’s study on airfare trends in the region.

The comprehensive study, undertaken in collaboration with Flare Aviation Consulting, examined around 36,000 routes in the top 10 aviation markets in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, reveals an alarming increase in international airfares by up to 50%, while domestic routes went up by less than 10%. The markets that saw the highest airfare increase are India (41%), United Arab Emirates (34%), Singapore (30%) and Australia (23%).

Unexpectedly, in the first quarter of 2023, despite a progressive increase in traffic, domestic airfares have continued to increase in several of these markets, including India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Japan, only decreasing marginally on international routes.

Airlines are capitalising on low competition and pent-up demand to increase profits and recover losses incurred during the pandemic, while airports continue to provide enhanced services to passengers despite incurring heavy operational