The cost of flying is ready for takeoff, and there are few indications that the trend will change any time soon as high fuel prices, pilot shortages and growing demand push ticket prices to new highs.

According to Hopper.com, the average cost of airfare for U.S. travelers in April rose to $330 for one domestic round-trip ticket, marking a 40-percent increase from prices in early January and the highest price the company has recorded since it began collecting cost data. Meanwhile, international travel has returned to pre-COVID prices of about $810 per round-trip. 

Hopper’s projections expect prices to increase a further 10 percent by the end of May, with average domestic round-trip fares getting to about $360 before taking a dip as travel demand decreases with the arrival of fall. In the meantime, air carriers are excitedly eyeing the current “strong revenue environment” brought about by high fuel prices, the lifting COVID-19 mandates and increased labor costs spurred on by a shortage of pilots in the United States.

“The short way to say it is we are seeing a lot of strength in the fare environment with customers who frankly value the quality of product that we have and are willing to pay us to fly,” said American Aline CEO Vasu Raja during an April earnings call. “So we’re encouraged by that and we see those trends going forward into the summer.”