American Express said on December 8 it expects "widespread air fare price rises around the world" in 2023 due to inflation, rising fuel costs and capacity issues.
The predictions were published by American Express Global Business Travel, an American Express subsidiary, in its annual look-ahead to to air fare changes on "key business travel routes".
The report suggested Europe-North America routes would see "modest rises" of 3.7%, with much the same foreseen for North American domestic fares, with rises of (3.4% for business and 2.9% for economy.
But flights in Europe "could see stronger price rises", American Express warned, suggesting jumps of 6% in business cabin and 5.5% in economy, as airline capacity would likely lag demand.
Even sharper price rises were forecast for Asia, with economy flights to and from Europe up 12% and business up 7.6% in the business cabin. Australian domestic business flights could end up almost 20% more expensive.
The steeper rises in Asia and the Pacific were likely to be down to slower border reopenings after pandemic lockdowns, according to the report, which warned of a "volatile" year for fares.
