[ben_w]

Nobody owned a 747 a hundred years ago.

Cheapest flight I've ever taken was 9.99 from Berlin to London — not sure if pounds or euros, but does it matter when either way it is less than I used to spend on a week of school lunches nearly 20 years earlier?

[paulryanrogers]

Exceptions like 10 EUR flights aren't sustainable. They're just auctioning off empty seats to cut costs.

The comparison was conceptual thing to similar thing. Only the rich own and operate private planes, that hasn't changed. The fact that other, more sophisticated planes exist doesn't undermine the point.

There are also diminishing returns. And past leaps in lifestyles aren't guaranteed to continue the same trends, and can reverse.

The earth has seen several major extinction events. Arguably humans are the cause of the latest one. Doubtful we can sustain billions of us without an ecological system to produce our bare necessities, certainly not enough for a full life.

[megablast]

> They're just auctioning off empty seats to cut costs.

No, they are selling off seats that aren't taken. They are making more money since those seats would be empty.

Cutting costs would not be selling the seats and saving on fuel.

[marsa]

eh are they really making more money with 9,99 tickets or are they just losing less money (on that particular flight i mean)

[Dma54rhs]

European cheap airlines have shown these prices are indeed sustainable for the last 20 years now?

[Detrytus]

The way it works is that ticket price of 10 EUR only really covers the cost of printing the ticket :) Everything else costs extra, which means that if you, for example, want to take some luggage with you, you would need to pay around 100-150 EUR

[Dma54rhs]

You do but nowhere near 100-150. They try to upsell stuff indeed but luggage is not that expensive.

[paulryanrogers]

Is every seat on every flight 10 EUR?

[Dma54rhs]

No, but you can check yourself. Flying in Europe is cheaper than train or bus. Not sure if there are Ryanair style cheap airlines in the US or other parts of the world.

[paulryanrogers]

Isn't this trading convenience (like flying stand by or at odd hours or dates)?

My guess is if flights priced in externalities they could not be cheaper than alternatives like trains. (Unless they're leaning on whales like first class to subsidize cheaper seats.)

[ben_w]

Indeed. In particular, the rail ticket I bought at the destination airport was about twice the price of the flight, even though it was a much shorter journey.