Airports which charge excessive fees may be boycotted, Robert Milton, chairman of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) warned.
He said that the "runaway rates of airport authorities" were one of the key areas of focus for the airline members.
He added: "It might be that airlines will determine as a group that they will not fly to certain destinations.
"Draconian action might be taken by boycotting destinations. Some of what is happening today is just absurd."
Airports he cited were Paris CDG where “rates will go up 35% over the next five years” and Venezuela where there was “fee on top of fee."
Mr Milton, who is also chairman and ceo of ACE Aviation, the holding company for Air Canada, also expressed concern about possible fees at Toronto where substantial expansion has taken place and which needed to be paid for.
It is understood however that if any boycott action is taken, a smaller, non-hub airport might be the target.
Mr Milton who was speaking at the Star Alliance's bi-annual meeting of its airlines' ceos in Montreal, also hit out at proposal by the French government for a tax on air fares to raise money to help underdeveloped countries.
He described the plan as "incredibly short-sighted" and hoped other governments would not follow the French example.
He added: "Governments should lay off airline but it is a lazy target. It is the laziest, sloppiest governments in the world that are coming up with these taxes."
SAS eyes long haul cuts
Gunnar Reitan, deputy ceo of SAS, said at the Star Alliance press briefing in Montreal, that the carrier's long haul routes to Shanghai and Bangkok "might not be viable if there were no further cuts in costs."
He said that while the carrier will by the end of the year have had cut costs by 1.5bn (SEK14bn) since 2001, further measures would still be necessary.