For Marc Singh, a Fresno State student from Malaysia, high travel costs can sometimes lead to extremely difficult decisions.

“I wanted to return home because my grandfather is sick, but expensive air tickets were too much of a factor,” Singh said. “He’s been in the hospital for three weeks, and I’m worried sick.”

A roundtrip ticket would cost around $1,500, Singh said.

Airlines are reducing the total number of available seats, which fills up planes and increases the value of tickets. Local travel experts blame Fresno’s prices on this trend, but the airlines blame increased government regulation for the uptick in flight costs. Fresno airport management hopes that increasing convenience and finding alternative funding will offset the high airfare.

“Airlines have been reducing the number of seats available nationwide for the last five years,” said Kevin Meikle, Director of Aviation at Fresno Yosemite International Airport. “Reducing the volume drives up costs. National flight costs are up 3 percent, but we are well below that.”

A record travel year

More people are flying from Fresno Yosemite International Airport than ever before.

According to airport statistics, 1,442,026 passengers boarded Fresno planes in 2014, breaking the record of 1,401,582 set in 2013.

Meikle believes this growth is a result of Fresno’s competitive international flight options.

“We offer 316 international destinations on five continents with only one stop,” he said. “That’s unheard of for an airport of our size.”

Although the airport saw a record year, Fresno residents on average travel far less than inhabitants of other cities.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Fresno ranked 93rd out of the top 100 in airport traffic. The latest U.S. census estimates for 2013 ranks Fresno as the 34th largest city in the country with an estimated population of 509,924.

More seats equal cheaper rates?

Fresno’s lack of travelers may be keeping flight costs down, Meikle said.

“Airlines have been reducing the number of available seats nationwide,” Meikle said. “Aircraft are full, so they can charge more.”

“But here in Fresno, we’ve had an increase in available seats, which keeps costs down,” he said.

However, overall flight costs are not down.

The U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported that Fresno’s average domestic fare — including connecting flights — was about $433 for July through September of last year. This ranks as the 31st most expensive average of the top 100 airlines, which collectively averaged $391 per trip. It is also an increase of about $20 from the average Fresno fare during the same period in 2013.

And according to this federal report, planes are more full than they have ever been. The Fresno airport’s load factor — essentially how full each plane is — was more than 84 percent in 2014. This number has increased every year since 2007, when the average flight was about 72 percent full.

Meikle said that the available seats increase is actually because more and more airlines are moving their planes to Fresno, not because people are flying less.

So why the increase?

Maureen Wagner, vice-president of operations for ALTOUR travel agency in Fresno, explained that quite a few things factor into local airfare — not just load factor.

Potential travelers can often save by purchasing a non-refundable flight, Wagner said, as opposed to a typical refundable fare. Rates also change drastically during the summer, holiday weekend and special promotional periods unique to each airline.

One of the major factors, Wagner said, is fuel costs.

“The regional jets used by most of the airlines servicing Fresno are not fuel-efficient,” Wagner said. “That is why the prices are more from Fresno compared to the cities where the airlines use 737 and 757 type jets that are more fuel-efficient.”

SkyWest announced in February that it would retire the 30-seat prop planes that ferry travelers from Fresno to Los Angeles and San Francisco in favor of new 50-seat jets.

The airline — partnered with larger United Airlines for these Fresno flights — will schedule fewer flights out of Fresno once the transition to the new aircraft finishes in May. However, the jets will carry more passengers on these flights, making the total number of available seats about the same as before. And the jet flights will take 10 minutes less.

Both Wagner and Meikle said this type of transition is a growing trend in airlines. Companies are using small fleets of large planes that make fewer flights.

Demand-based vs. profit-based

Meikle said that all airfare rates were “100 percent set by the airlines.”

“Over the past five years, the airlines have shifted their business models from a demand-based model to a profit-based model,” he said. “They’re thinking: ‘We only have so many airplanes we can place, and we will place them where we can make the most profit.’”

This has actually helped Fresno Yosemite International Airport over the last few years, Meikle said, because airlines can make more money flying out of Fresno than out of smaller cities.

That’s also why our rates are the second-highest among the California airports represented in the top 100 busiest airports (only San Francisco has a higher average).

“They [airlines] are there to make money,” Meikle said. “At the end of the day, they will charge what they can charge.”

If the rates are too high, people won’t fly, Meikle added.

By Meikle’s logic, increased airport traffic is actually increasing flight costs in Fresno. Because more and more people are willing to pay the above-average rates, airlines are raising them slightly each year.

The airline perspective

Airlines.org, the U.S. airline industry’s official website, lists six reasons for increased flight costs — chief among these are high tax rates on the industry.

“Taxes on passengers and airlines have skyrocketed by 400 percent over the past two decades,” the section reads. “Since 1990, the number of aviation taxes has increased from six to 17 and the amount paid went from $3.7 billion in 1990 to over $20 billion in 2014.”

The website also lists global competition as a reason for high domestic flight costs. Because airlines in the U.S. are so heavily taxed and regulated compared to other countries, it’s difficult to compete in the lucrative international travel market. Airlines must use more resources to keep up, leaving less resources for smaller domestic areas like Fresno.

The expense list also included outdated equipment used by U.S. air traffic control causing unnecessary delays and cancellations, increased government regulation, converting to more energy-friendly planes and maintaining a high level of safety.

Keeping costs down

For Fresno’s airport, keeping costs down is a simple way to attract both airlines and travelers.

“Every airport charges airlines to operate,” Meikle said. “The average cost is $7.54 per passenger, but we charge $6.35. That means only about $6 of your $400 dollar flight is going to us.”

Meikle said that Fresno Yosemite International Airport is extremely protective of this cost structure, as it is one of the airport’s only options to keep prices low for consumers.

“We also haven’t raised parking prices in 15 years,” he added.

The airport, despite its affiliation with the city of Fresno, operates much like a private business does, Meikle said. It owns the land adjacent to the airport and charges rent. It also collects rent from the shops and eateries that operate inside the airport.

“Our goal is to create as much revenue outside the airport as possible so that we can keep costs down,” Meikle said.

‘Constantly evolving and changing’

It’s difficult to explain exactly why Fresno’s airfare rates are more expensive than most large cities.

Airport management places the blame squarely on airlines, which place the blame squarely on the federal government. A local travel agency is somewhere in the middle — noting that many factors contribute to fluctuating air costs.

The travel agency and the airport do agree on one point: the trick to saving on airfare is to shop around.

“The airline industry is constantly evolving and changing,” Meikle said. “They used to be stable for years, but now change is almost a weekly event.”