Global average airfares have shot up by 24 per cent year-on-year as the industry has been impacted by the Iran war, according to the latest figures from aviation data firm OAG.
OAG said that the lowest average fare was $465 during the week commencing 9 March. This compares to an average fare of $375 in the same week of 2025 and was the highest price for all corresponding weeks going back to 2019.
The company added that this year-on-year increase of nearly one-quarter was “one of the sharpest early-year pricing surges in recent memory”. OAG has analysed the lowest available economy fares every week over the past seven years.
During the week before the outbreak of war in the Gulf (w/c 23 February), the average airfare was $409, which was higher than in the same week of 2025 ($389) but below prices in 2023 ($445) and 2024 ($418).
OAG’s data for the first 11 weeks of 2026 shows that this year’s prices had been slightly lower year-on-year during January before being broadly flat in February and then rising rapidly in early March.
The war, which is now in its fourth week, has caused widespread disruption to flights as well as stoking fears of increased airfares in the next few months as airlines face significantly higher fuel bills over the peak summer period.