No, it's mainly technological. Here you can see the breakdown of operating costs of different wide-body aircraft: https://www.planestats.com/bhsw_2014sep https:

No, it's mainly technological. Here you can see the breakdown of operating costs of different wide-body aircraft: https://www.planestats.com/bhsw_2014sep https://www.planestats.com/bhsw_2014sep As shown there majority of the cost is fuel, and as hcarvalhoalves's comment notes fuel economy has improved by 45% since the 60s. Not having to operate a 4-engine jumbo jet for transatlantic flights or make multiple landings in Ireland/Iceland/Nova Scotia just to fly between Paris & New York is also a huge reduction in cost. That's what ETOPS in my comment is referring to. The operating of having more engines is also higher. Flights that today cost $400 would cost something like $1000 today if it wasn't for these sorts of technological improvements, and $1000 flights would be $2500 etc.