Airlines brainstorm for Plan B as fuel costs soar

"Oil is changing everything. There are no easy answers. In the last six years, airlines improved fuel efficiency 19 per cent and reduced non-fuel unit costs 18 per cent. There is no fat left," said Giovanni Bisignani, director and CEO, International Air Transport Association.

That is why airlines are now looking at extracting cost efficiencies from a component that forms 37 per cent of operating costs, such as passenger amenities and parking and landing charges.

 

The other major cost components