Airfare Increased 20% Over Pre-Pandemic Prices Last Month

As the Russo-Ukrainian war rages on, disrupting global petroleum supply lines and driving up the cost of fuel, airfare prices around the world are spiking.

Add to the current fuel scarcity situation the fact that travel demand has, at last, rebounded in a big way—the moment the worldwide travel industry has been waiting for—and the cause of rising flight costs is pretty clear.

According to CNBC, airfares surged by 20 percent last month, in comparison with the last normal comparable period recorded prior to the pandemic, March of 2019, yet bookings had only risen by 12 percent. Consumer spending in March 2022 was also up 28 percent over March 2019, with U.S. travelers shelling out a total of $8.8 billion for domestic airline tickets. These figures were based on newly published data from the Adobe Digital Economy Index.

Partially attributable to supply chain disruption caused by the ongoing armed conflict in Ukraine, inflation is hitting U.S. consumers hard in multiple other areas, including the cost of food, energy and housing. Last month’s Consumer Price Index revealed the fastest rate of inflation seen since 1981 at 8.5 percent over March 2021.

Airline executives have remained confident in their ability to pass along most of the rising operational costs to customers. And, for their part, travelers appear willing to pay more for the privilege of getting away after two consecutive years of being stuck at home amid the pandemic—at least, thus far.

The Benchmark U.S. Gulf Coast price of jet fuel was $3.2827 per gallon on Monday, an increase of almost 50 percent since the beginning of 2022 and over 50 percent higher than it was at this time last year.

Online travel spending for the peak summer season of June through August is up eight percent in comparison with 2019, with bookings up by three percent, according to Adobe’s data, which tracks consumer bookings for the six largest U.S. airlines’ platforms.