I'm seeing higher coach prices on some routes that I know well than I could get (domestic) first class for in 2019... so that makes up for a LOT of empty first class seats...

They've gone up in the front cabin(s) as well. Sometimes quite a lot.

Ticket prices are high because we’re paying for the revenue loss during the pandemic, still. And that people are willing to pay the prices obviously.

(And a bit of “everyone else is raising prices” and greed, naturally)

And also because deregulation is far enough behind us that all the companies combined and can milk the resulting limited market competition. We can see this in prices (at least if you actually compare like with like, ie add on bag fees) are coming back up to pre-deregulation prices

That’s interesting insight.

Anecdote: I just took a 50 min flight on a budget carrier: £230. Didn’t even include a checked bag.

You can’t just compare costs between now and the past either because you get much less for your money now, pretty much just a seat on a very cramped bus.

I’m not old enough to have flown pre deregulation but I did fly in the heyday of EasyJet and Ryanair etc.

The flying experience is significantly more stressful and cramped than 10-20 years ago.

I have no problem paying £200-300 for a flight but I want good leg room, good staffing levels, good service in face of disruption etc. Even flying business class in Europe is hardly worth it as you’re still flying the low-cost airlines/subsidiaries, so you’re just paying for a tiny bit of extra legroom and luggage, and some crap lounge access if you’re lucky. And some short flights in Europe are absurdly priced (eg £816 Manchester to Amsterdam in June/July)