Asia-Pacific Airlines Say High Fares May Be the New Normal With Jet Fuel Near $180 a Barrel, as Wizz Air’s Profit Falls Two-Thirds on a 34% Bigger Fuel Bill

Asia-Pacific airlines are telling travelers to get used to expensive tickets. At the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines’ 70th Assembly of Presidents in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, November 13, director-general Wong Hong said high jet fuel prices, and the fares that come with them, could become the new normal. A day earlier, Europe’s Wizz Air showed what that cost pressure does to a fast-growing budget carrier: it flew 26% more passengers in the six months to September 30, yet its net profit fell by about two-thirds.

Together, the two announcements show the core problem for airlines heading into 2027. Demand for travel is still there. The issue is that carriers can’t easily pass a fuel bill this large on to passengers without pushing some of them away.

What the Asia-Pacific airline group said

According to Bernama, Wong said a year ago airlines were paying around US$80 per barrel for jet fuel, against about US$180 now. Speaking to Aviation Business News at the same event, he put fuel at roughly 33% of airline operating costs and said prices of $185 to $186 a barrel are “not normal and not sustainable.” The Business Times reported that the 2026 Iran conflict has pushed jet fuel to almost $200 a barrel in recent months.

Wong described the pricing trap plainly. “If you start pushing the fares to a certain point, you will start seeing bookings going somewhere else or people start to reduce travel,” he said, as quoted by The Sun Malaysia. He also noted that because tickets are sold months ahead, airlines can’t reprice quickly when fuel jumps.

Revenue isn’t keeping up. Aviation Business News reported that passenger yields across the region fell year over year from April to August and only steadied slightly in September. The Business Times said AAPA’s monthly data showed a decline in aggregate passenger volumes over the same months. Even so, Wong described underlying demand as resilient. Airlines in many markets have already added fuel surcharges, and AAPA’s member carriers passed resolutions asking governments for “timely, practical support.”

The group also raised two structural problems that will outlast any drop in oil prices. Aircraft delivery delays and supply-chain problems are keeping older, thirstier jets flying longer and driving up maintenance costs. And the industry’s goal of using 5% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) by 2030 looks hard to reach, Wong said, because SAF remains far more expensive than conventional fuel and is in short supply.

Wizz Air’s numbers show the squeeze up close

Wizz Air’s interim report, published November 12, illustrates Wong’s warning in real numbers:

• Passengers rose 26.2% to 46.1 million, with a 92.5% load factor.
• Revenue grew 13.8% to €3.80 billion.
• Fuel costs rose 33.7% to €1.24 billion, according to Airliner Insider, outpacing revenue growth.
• Operating profit fell 39.8% to €264.5 million, and net profit dropped 66.6% to €108.1 million from €323.5 million.
• Fuel cost per available seat kilometre rose 14.5%, while costs excluding fuel were essentially flat at 3.07 euro cents.

The breakdown matters. Wizz kept its non-fuel costs flat while growing capacity by more than a quarter, so the drop in profit comes largely from fuel and from Middle East disruption in its first quarter, which cut first-half unit revenue by 2.9% and, as Proactive Investors noted, also pushed fares down early in the period. The second quarter was better: net profit rose 7.4% to €306.3 million, and unit revenue edged up 0.5%. The company said October unit revenue was up mid-single digits year over year, which suggests fares are starting to rise.

Its hedging also hints at where management expects prices to go. As of November 6, Wizz had hedged 82% of its fuel for the second half of its fiscal year at a cap of $860 per metric ton, and 41% of the following fiscal year at a higher cap of $1,009 per ton. It also still had 22 aircraft grounded for Pratt & Whitney GTF engine inspections, down from 35 a year earlier, a reminder that the supply-chain problems AAPA described affect carriers worldwide.

Why it matters for business travel budgets

For companies that fly staff or sell travel, the message from Kuala Lumpur and Geneva is the same: don’t plan 2027 around a return to cheap fares. A few practical takeaways follow from the reported figures:

• Budget for surcharges, not just base fares. AAPA says carriers across many markets are already using fuel surcharges, and these can change faster than published fares. Travel managers should track the total ticket price, not the headline fare.
• Book earlier when you can. Wong’s point that tickets are sold months ahead works both ways. Fares bought now reflect today’s costs, while later bookings are more likely to include further increases if fuel stays near $180.
• Expect capacity changes on weaker routes. With yields falling, AAPA said airlines are weighing capacity adjustments. If carriers trim flights on thinner routes, fewer frequencies can mean higher prices and less flexibility for business travelers.
• Watch the hedges. Airlines with strong hedging, like Wizz for the rest of its fiscal year, can hold prices longer than rivals buying fuel at spot prices. That gap can create short-term fare opportunities for flexible travelers.

For tourism-dependent businesses such as hotels, tour operators, and destination marketers, the bigger risk is the demand destruction Wong warned about. Leisure travelers are typically more price-sensitive than business travelers, so if fares keep rising, the drop in bookings will likely show up first in their trips.

The bottom line

Airlines aren’t short of passengers. They’re short of margin. Asia-Pacific carriers are asking governments for help and warning that high fares may stick around, while Wizz Air’s results show that even a low-cost airline with flat non-fuel costs and full planes can lose two-thirds of its profit when fuel costs jump a third. Until jet fuel moves well below today’s levels, travelers and the businesses that pay for their trips should expect higher ticket prices.

Edited by Coron @QUE.COM
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