Around the world, the debate rages as to why short-haul regional airfares are so expensive.

But the reality is while they are expensive compared to long-haul flights they are cheap compared to what they cost 50 years ago.

One example is the airfare from Perth to Pt Hedland in the north of Western Australia.

In 1968 at the start of that state’s resources boom, the one-way fare was A$67.60 while the average weekly earnings were almost the same at A$62.50.

Fifty years on the cheapest fare is $351 (A$0.26/km) but the average weekly earnings have soared to $1,628, so the fare today is almost five times lower.

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Fueling the debate in Western Australia, and in fact across Australia and New Zealand, are firstly the cost comparisons of flying to the holiday island of Bali, Indonesia, where labor costs are seven times lower than Australia.

The other comparison made is the Australia to London airfare where the typical one-way cost is $870 which translates to just $0.06/km.

No matter where you look around globe short regional flights are much more expensive than long-range flights as the graphic below shows.

The differences underline one of the fundamentals of airlines, the substantial basic costs such as the cost of the aircraft, support, taxes, and charges.

The biggest factor in the cost of a fare is the flag-fall or backroom cost of having the plane waiting on the tarmac.

Boeing estimated in the 1990s that up to 75 percent of an airfare could be attributed to these costs that include maintenance, sales, administration and infrastructure costs.

Even the taxes and airport charges do not reflect the distance you are going to travel and when airlines have seat sales, airports rarely if ever reduce charges to assist.

And those charges can make up a significant proportion of the fare.

One WA regional airport charges A$25.80 for each arriving and departing passenger and then there is a $14.57 screening fee for a departing passenger. Airport charges in WA have accounted for up to 40 percent of some sale fares.

Fuel burn is also much higher on a short-range trip because of the extra fuel used just to reach cruising altitude. On a 600km journey of about one hour, half of the fuel load will be used in the first 15 minutes getting to cruise altitude.

The economy of scale is also a major contributor to the cost with planes such as the 365-seat Boeing 777 having vastly better economics than a short-range 162-seat Boeing 737.

Because shorter range planes such as the Boeing 737 perform up to six landings and take-offs a day the maintenance cost on the airframe and engine is comparatively much higher than say a long-range Boeing 777 which may just do one cycle a day.

An extreme example of the economy of scale and short distance is the flight from Perth to Rottnest Island off the coast. The distance is 35.2km but the one-way fare is $78 or A$2.22/km.

If you were to apply that cost to a Perth to London return flight the fare would be over $28,000!

In Western Australia, there is also a raging debate that suggests that the intra-state flights are more expensive than any other in Australia. However, as the graphic below shows that is not the case and in fact, some comparison fares are cheaper.

Qantas has once set a new speed record for the Perth to London QF9 Boeing 787-9 non-stop flight slashing almost an hour off the scheduled flight time.

The new record time was set on July 20 and was just 16 hours 23 minutes instead of the scheduled 17 hours 20 minutes.

The non-stop flight to London, launched in March, is now consistently at least 45 minutes better than scheduled.

The times have gradually been getting better as the strong northern winter winds have given way to a lighter summer pattern.

The inbound QF10 from London to Perth is also setting record times of 15.45 minutes also stripping an hour off the published time.

The average speed for the QF10 journey is about 936km/h with ground speeds topping out at over 1120km/h.

The typical cruise speed for a 787 is 900km/h.

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According to Flightradar24 the Qantas Perth to London and return service is now consistently beating the published schedule in both directions.

WATCH: Qantas 787 Quokka inflight

Qantas has orders and price rights for 45 787s.

At the Boeing factory the 6th, VH-ZNF, is in pre-delivery, while VH-ZNH and VH ZNG the 774 and 778th 787s will be delivered later this year.

The airline has firm orders for another 6 to be delivered later in 2019.

It has announced new routes including Melbourne to San Francisco, Brisbane-LA-New York and Sydney/Melbourne and Brisbane to Hong Kong.

These services just replace A380s or 747s

The next all new route is thought to be Sydney to Chicago.

According to travel agents, the Perth to London nonstop is proving popular and it is difficult to get premium seats.

Supporting the pilots of the nonstop flight is the high-tech Qantas integrated operations center at the airline’s Mascot headquarters.

Multi-disciplinary experts in areas such as load control, engineering, weather forecasting, catering, flight planning, dispatch and customer service monitor the operations, plan flights and are ready to leap into action when something goes amiss.

Qantas chief technical pilot Alex Passerini said key issues with the London flight include avoiding headwinds, because they made a significant difference to the flight time, and negotiating the complicated patchwork of air traffic control regions run by various countries.

The airline has its own weather forecasters who monitor conditions up to seven days before the flight and keep a closer watch once it is 72 hours away.

As “The Big Dry” continues to grip Australia, the nation’s airlines are coming to the assistance of their drought-ravaged regional customers with programs worth more than $A4 million.

The severe drought affecting regional Eastern Australia has already prompted the Federal Government to announce $A1 billion in drought relief measures as farmers struggle to cope.

The nation’s most populous state, New South Wales, has been declared 100 percent drought affected with less than 10mm of winter rain during the past month in western, north-west and central areas of the state.

Independent regional carrier Regional Express kicked off the round of donations with an announcement it would set aside $1 million for drought relief.

READ: How Hawaiian’s A321neos could benefit Australasia and Japan.

The airline has set up a Drought Relief Fund available to community groups working to alleviate the impact of the drought and will donate $A4 in travel on the Rex network for every $A1 raised by the groups.

The airline also plans to collect donations in all flights to provide cash contributions for drought relief.

“Rex’s heart is in the Country, and our thoughts and prayers go out to all residents of communities in regional Australia who are facing unimaginable hardship as they struggle to make ends meet and keep their crop and stock alive,” said Rex deputy chairman John Sharp.

“Rex has the largest network in regional and rural Australia with 60 destinations, and it behooves us to stand by our loyal regional customers in their time of greatest need.”

Australia’s biggest airline, Qantas, plans to deliver $A3 million in drought relief, including $A2 million from its own coffers..

This will include an immediate $A1 million cash donation to Rural Aid as well as initiatives by its airlines to raise another $A1 million with customers, which will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the company.

The passenger initiatives will include two special fundraising charter flights from Sydney to Tamworth and Longreach in October and allowing customers to donate frequent flyer points adding Rural Aid to the list of charity redemption partners in its rewards store.

The airline said it would also support employees who volunteer their time to Rural Aid’s Farm Rescue program and it would be placing Rural Aid barrels in lounges and gates

The farm rescue program allows people to volunteer their time to help repair farming equipment, fix homes and build fences on rural properties around Australia.

“Qantas started in the outback. Many of our staff live there and we have a lot of farming families who supply everything from beef to broccoli that we serve customers,’’ Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said. “We feel we have a duty to help these communities who are doing it so tough.”

Virgin Australia said it would be setting up collection points in airports, domestic flights and its offices to collect money for farmers.

The airline is partnering with the Australian Red Cross and from Monday passengers would be able to make a donation to the Australian Red Cross Appeal “Help Aussie Farmers” onboard its domestic flights and in the airline’s lounges.

Virgin will also be collecting donations from its 10,000 staff members.

“The Australian Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery Appeal “Help Aussie Farmers” is a great way to support farming families dealing with the impact of this severe drought,” Virgin Australia chief executive John Borghetti said.

“Funds raised through the appeal will be distributed to drought-affected communities across Australia through partners working in these communities.

“Virgin Australia flies to many destinations which are impacted by the drought, and as a proud Australian airline we want to harness the community spirit which brings us together in tough times.”

Air New Zealand is looking at how it may be able to save time and money by using 3D printed metal parts in its aircraft and tools.

It has joined forces with New Zealand company Zenith Tecnica, which specializes in the design and manufacture of 3D titanium and other metal parts using a technology called electron beam melting.

READ: Air New Zealand joins forces with JetBlue to foster travel innovation.

The technology is designed by GE Additive company ARCAM EBM and uses a powerful electron beam to melt metal powder in a vacuum. A part is then built up layer-by-layer, a process also known as additive manufacturing, using computer-aided design.

There has been increasing interest throughout the aviation industry in 3D printing technology because of the dual advantages of cost savings and the ability to more quickly produce complicated parts.

The process reduces wastage and the need to hold big inventories, allowing parts to be made according to demand and made available where they’re needed.

Printed parts are already used in aircraft cabins as well as in areas such as auxiliary power units and engines.

US manufacturer Boeing earlier this week announced its HorizonX venture fund had invested in Digital Alloys, a US-based company developing high-speed, multi-metal additive manufacturing systems that produce 3D-printed parts.

Boeing said it already had more than 60,000 3D-printed parts flying on space, commercial and defense products.

Air New Zealand’s foray into 3D printing began in 2016 and it now produces items such as improved parts for inflight entertainment screens.

The latest investment is part of a strategy that includes work with universities and partners such as aircraft maintenance company ST Engineering Aerospace to produce advanced parts.

“While we are in the initial stages of working with these companies on 3D printing, so far, we have printed prototype metal framing for our Business Premier cabin, to quickly test new concepts and ideas and we have also made novelty wine aerators,’’ Air New Zealand chief operations officer Bruce Parton said.

“While the aerators, made to look like replica aircraft engines, are a bit of fun we’re really excited by the possibility they represent as 3D printing is both cost and space effective.

“Aircraft interiors are made up of tens of thousands of parts, and the ability to 3D print on demand lightweight parts we only require a small number of, rather than rely on traditional manufacturing methods is of huge benefit to our business, without compromising safety, strength or durability.”

Zenith Tecnica managing director Martyn Newby said the Air New Zealand partnership was a good project to demonstrate the strength, versatility and utility of titanium 3D printed parts for aircraft applications.

The company already makes parts for a range of applications, including marine, industrial, medical and sporting uses. It also produces parts for satellites and is hoping the Air New Zealand partnership will help it open a new market in the aviation industry.

“We are in a very good position to support the local adoption of 3D printing for aviation applications and welcome Air New Zealand’s enthusiasm to embrace this emerging technology and help take it to the mainstream,”  he said.