Is the air ticket expensive? When is the cheapest time to buy?

Although flying is no longer a luxury experience, compared with land transportation, the price of air tickets is still much higher. Every tourist season, what Fei Sen hears most is: Can you buy cheap air tickets? So is the plane ticket expensive? Do airlines really earn more money by air tickets? Today, Fei Feisen will tell you the secret of this ticket.

When it comes to air ticket prices, most people's first reaction is that the gas price is so high, and the ticket price will certainly not be cheap. Is that really the case? In fact, fuel is only a small part of it. Take the latest Airbus A320neo as an example. It can carry 6400 gallons of fuel, which is equivalent to 376 Toyota Camry cars filled with oil. Roughly speaking, the fuel consumption of A320 aircraft per mile is about 1.5 gallon, which means that it can fly 0.67 mile per gallon. If you fly from new york to Washington, you need to refuel. Camry can go back and forth between new york and Los Angeles about 49 times. However, it should be noted that the car can only carry five passengers. However, it can carry more than 150 passengers.

According to statistics from the U.S. Department of Transportation, airlines pay less than $3 per passenger for fuel. On the route from new york to Washington, the fuel cost is actually about $2.50, but the actual fare of passengers has to pay nearly $ 100. So besides the fuel cost, which airlines' operating costs are included in the price of each air ticket?

By the way, when it comes to fares, the relevant data will be adjusted according to market conditions. What this article says is to provide you with a reference. Through simple analysis, we can see the structure of the cost of a plane ticket, so that everyone can understand why your flight cost is so high.

Unit cost. An American pilot earns about $80,000 a year. On average, each flight segment is about 44 USD/hour. A plane is equipped with at least two pilots, and the flight cost from new york to Washington is about 88 hours. Assuming that the passenger plane is fully loaded, there are always at least four flight attendants. The flight cost of the flight crew is 38 hours, and the total flight attendance is *** 152 hours. In this way, the total flight cost of crew and flight attendants is $240. If calculated according to 154 seats, the cost paid by each passenger is USD. Together with the previous fuel fee of $2.50, the total fare is now $2.50.

Airport charges. The take-off fee for each plane at JFK Airport in new york is 6.33 (per plane 1 1,000), or take the Airbus model as an example. The weight of Airbus is measured in pounds, which means that every time a flight takes off, the airline has to pay the airport a total of 1089 USD. Converted to each passenger, you need to pay $7. These expenses include the use of covered bridges, equipment fees and other related and necessary airport fees. Similarly, Washington airport also charges related landing fees. At the cost price, each passenger needs to pay another $6.50. Our total fare is now 17.5.

Tax cost. Different countries have different tax policies. Or take the United States as an example. The simplest tax is the domestic passenger ticket tax, accounting for 7.5% of the fare. These taxes are managed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). If the plane takes off and lands at the rural airport, according to the relevant management regulations, it is necessary to pay the tax on the ticket price. These two taxes have nothing to do with the airport. Domestic flights in the United States also have a US dollar tax. If you are going to Hawaii or Alaska, you will have to pay an additional US$ 8.7. As for security inspection, the Department of Homeland Security has increased the security inspection fee by 5.6 USD since 9. 1 1, and the above fees are only applicable to domestic flights. If you fly from new york to Paris, you need to pay 17.7 USD for international transportation, 5.5 USD for customs clearance, 5 USD for animal and plant inspection and quarantine, 6 USD for entry-exit inspection, and 14 USD for French civil aviation. According to the above related taxes and fees, roughly, the ticket price including taxes and fees is already 33.

Aircraft cost. As we all know, the cost of aircraft procurement is extremely expensive. A plane is worth more than 1 100 million dollars. The service time of an aircraft does not depend on the flight time, but on the flight cycle. Simply put, it is the process from take-off to landing. The manufacturer's criterion for measuring aircraft life is not the length of flight time, but how many times the aircraft has taken off and landed. This is because every flight take-off and landing is accompanied by pressurization in the cabin, which will have an impact on the aircraft structure. Whether it is a 30-minute or 9-hour transoceanic flight, the fatigue damage of various structures has the same effect. Back on the plane, according to the manufacturer's instructions, you can fly 60 thousand cycles. We divide the total purchase price of the aircraft by the flight period, and get the flight cost of each segment as 1783 USD. It is equivalent to each passenger will pay $65,438+$065,438+$0.5 for the use of the aircraft. So, the total fare now is 44.5 pounds.

Maintenance cost. In order to maintain the airworthiness of the aircraft and ensure the safety of the aircraft. Airlines should regularly carry out mechanical inspections of aircraft. Roughly speaking, the fuselage maintenance cost is about 646 dollars, the air material reserve is 276 dollars, the engine maintenance cost is 596 dollars, and the overhaul inspection cost is 603 dollars. The total maintenance cost is $265,438 +0,265,438 +0, which is equivalent to $65,438+0 per passenger. Now the total expenditure cost is 58.5.

Non-flight expenses. In order to ensure the operation of the company, airlines have to pay a series of expenses such as administration, marketing, business, public relations, property and rent. Although it is difficult to quantify these figures, it can be conservatively estimated to be about 65,438+00/passenger. Now, the fare is 68.5 yuan.

Insurance fee. The airline will pay USD for each plane, and the conversion cost for each seat is USD 0.25. Plus other related expenses, including crew hotel, hangar use, ground equipment, etc. And roughly convert the above costs to each passenger, then the total cost price of air tickets has actually reached 70.

However, the actual price of a plane ticket is only more than 80 dollars, and the profit margin of airlines is only US dollars. What needs to be pointed out here is that we assume that all planes are full, but in practice, it is really difficult to be full except during the tourist season. Therefore, not all the ticket sales revenue flows to airlines.

Speaking of which, you all probably understand why air tickets are so expensive. When buying air tickets in the future, if the airline complains that it has not made any money for one year, it must be true.

From: Sam of Airbus.