How much does a flight cost?

A plane ticket doesn't have a "factory" cost the way a car might: every airline adjusts the price of each seat dozens of times a day using revenue management algorithms that factor in how many seats remain unsold, how much time is left before departure, and how that flight is selling compared with previous flights on the same route and date of the year. On top of that come more stable factors: distance and flight time, the type of aircraft, competition on that particular route, and airport and air navigation fees, which vary widely from country to country and can account for a significant share of the final price on short routes.

Fuel is, along with staff, an airline's biggest operating cost, and its share of the total bill usually moves between 20% and 30% depending on the price of oil at any given time. When crude rises, airlines tend to pass part of that increase on through fuel surcharges added to the ticket; when it falls, competition tends to pass the savings on to passengers, though not always immediately or in full.

Two passengers on the same flight and the same row may have paid very different prices because they bought at different times: booking months in advance during low season is usually much cheaper than doing so days before a long weekend, when demand outstrips available seats and prices rise to balance supply and demand.