Simon says: air fares reflection of supply and demand

Why are fares to North America relatively more expensive than those quoted for Asia? — Chris Clarke

I imagine you are looking at prices for the coming summer. Certainly transatlantic fares for July and August are looking very high.

For a non-stop London-Miami flight on August 1, returning a week later, I can’t find anything below £1,000. Mumbai is exactly the same distance, yet Jet Airways will get you from London to the Indian city for only £575 on the same dates. London-

Los Angeles is a similar story. The cheapest I can find for LHR-LAX for August 1-8 is £1,100 return. Yet to Bangkok — almost 500 miles further — a fare of £800 is available on Eva Air’s non-stop flights from Heathrow to the Thai capital.

Furthermore, the prices to Asia include £16 more Air Passenger Duty than to the US.

Such is the nature of aviation that there is very little difference in costs: airport ownership charges and fuel bills are similar whatever the route served. It is simply a reflection of the fact that in the summer a large number of travellers are chasing a finite number of seats to North America, and airlines are understandably extracting whatever they can.

However, if you look at low-season dates — for example in November, the month that travel forgot — then the situation reverses. To Bangkok, the cheapest non-stop I can find for November 1-8 is on BA at £700. But to Los Angeles, Air New Zealand has a fare of just £500 return (plus the benefit of more legroom).

If I may rephrase your question to “Why are fares to North America more variable than to Asia?” — the answer is simply that demand is more volatile.

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