The days of cheap air travel will be over if airlines are forced to introduce physical distancing measures on planes.
The Director General of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Alexandre de Juniac, believes that social distancing will end cheap travel according to statements made at a briefing on April 21st. His rationale is that with fewer seats available, it means that airlines will have to increase prices to turn a profit.
“Either you fly at the same price, selling the ticket at the same average price as before, and you lose enormous amounts of money so it’s impossible to fly for any airline, particularly low cost; or you increase ticket prices by at least 50% and you are able to fly with a minimum profit. So it means that if social distancing is imposed, cheap travel is over.”
Culled from Simpleflying.com