Soaring air fares this summer set to heat up hostilities between airports and airlines

Major carriers have enjoyed a quick recovery with fares bolstered by tight capacity going into the peak season

Aer Lingus and British Airways owner IAG posted a surprise quarterly profit last month. Stock picture

Soaring ticket prices are lining the pockets of the world’s biggest airlines, providing balm to the economic wounds suffered during the lockdowns of the pandemic. But as the industry takes off, airports say they’ve been forgotten at the gate.

Flying will be far more expensive this summer, according to corporate travel manager American Express Global Business Travel, which analysed tens of thousands of client transactions on international flights to and from Asian destinations.

Major carriers heading to this week’s meeting of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), have enjoyed a quick recovery. Fares have been bolstered by tight capacity going into the peak season and customers are eager to book.

Aer Lingus and British Airways owner IAG posted a surprise quarterly profit last month and raised its outlook for the full year. Dubai’s Emirates and Singapore Airlines reported record earnings, with Australia’s Qantas on course to follow suit.

Airports, meanwhile, continue to struggle. London Heathrow, the home base of British Airways, has warned of ongoing losses and is withholding dividend payments to its owners.

  is also wrestling with airlines on the increase in fees it can charge airlines. Ryanair routinely threatens to leave over such costs, and has scaled back in Germany, saying high airport fees there make operations unsustainable at airports like Frankfurt.

Airports, on the other hand, say a divergence of fortunes is holding back investment, after staff shortages and other snafus caused backups that ruined many holidays last summer. From terminal expansions to runway extensions, electrification and the installation of upgraded scanning devices, airports are continuing to pour resources into their facilities.

International Air Transport Association (IATA) director general Willie Walsh lobbied fiercely to prevent tariff increases from endangering airlines' recovery. 

“The sharp increase in airfares is hampering the recovery of the entire aviation ecosystem,” said Airports Council International Asia-Pacific, a trade group. Many of of its members have lost money for 10 consecutive quarters. The group said it wants carriers to “exercise responsible and fair” pricing that supports the travel recovery and consumers’ best interests.

The frequent jousting over airport landing fees has intensified in the wake of the health crisis. Airlines received more direct financial support during the pandemic, and now have the freedom to quickly raise prices. IATA director general Willie Walsh has lobbied fiercely to prevent tariff increases from endangering their recovery.

Heathrow has sought backing from Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority to raise fees, saying any higher costs shouldn’t be borne by travellers but instead shared between airlines and the airport. Critics of higher fees, such as Virgin Atlantic, have said such a move would only benefit the airport’s mainly foreign shareholders, and represent a bad deal for consumers and airlines.

Animosity between airports and airlines boiled over last year when Heathrow imposed a cap of 100,000 departing passengers a day through much of the summer schedule amid a lack of workers. The move drew the wrath of airlines including Emirates, which flies about half a dozen Airbus A380s into London each day and said in July that Heathrow “chose not to act, not to plan, not to invest”.

“There is always a bit of a tension between the two, which is typical between a supplier-customer relationship,” said Mabel Kwan, a Singapore-based managing director at aviation consultancy Alton. Airlines are “a very powerful customer and client from a negotiating standpoint”, and fee increases “are politically and socially sensitive”, she said.

Airports also earn revenue from commercial rents, advertising, and other items often dependent on volumes, which have varied across the global recovery.

In the background of the rift is a peak travel season just getting under way — in Asian countries such as China, international flights have recently reopened after tighter covid restrictions.

However it unfolds, air travellers will be paying more. Economy and business-class passengers on the most in-demand corporate routes are seeing higher prices this year.

“We expect air fares to continue to rise this summer,” said Jeremy Quek, at Amex. “The level of increases will moderate a little as airline capacity recovery continue to grow through the second half of 2023.”

• Bloomberg