I worked for a British based airline for a couple of years (before the fuel surcharges were introduced). Regarding tickets, economy (coach) tickets are not where airlines make their money, so we probably shouldn&#x27;t look at the prices we pay for these tickets as data points relating to costs (fuel). It&#x27;s not comparable to train or bus travel.<p>They make any profits with business class and first class tickets. These are the seat prices which may reflect the costs to operate. Economy seats are there to fill up the plane. They can run the flight and still make a profit if all the business class and first class seats are taken and no economy seats are there. This is why the adverts you see on TV are never about the economy class, but all about the business &#x2F; first class &#x2F; luxury class. Airlines only compete with each other on these luxury seats, they don&#x27;t compete with economy seats.