Aircraft aren’t cheap. Neither are airline tickets. But how much of that airline ticket is made up of the cost of the aeroplane?
If we assume a relatively efficient modern airliner, say a 777, a 30-year lifetime, 3500 hours per year, and an average speed of 500mph, that produces a total distance of 52,500,000 miles. Which is quite a lot.
If you were to knock on Boeing’s door, they could sell you one for $320 million. Volume discounts are, I am told, available.
So, assuming straight line depreciation, along with many, many other assumptions, that’s $6.10 per mile. At 350 or so passengers, that is around
2 cents per mile
Or, for a 3000 mile (transcontinental or transoceanic) flight, a total of sixty dollars. Which is perhaps more than I expected.