In round numbers, airlines’ cost basis is ~$0.15 per available seat mile. So a trip from NYC to Rome of 4,300 miles in a 777-300ER with 350 passengers would co

In round numbers, airlines’ cost basis is ~$0.15 per available seat mile. So a trip from NYC to Rome of 4,300 miles in a 777-300ER with 350 passengers would cost in the ballpark of $225k. LA to Shanghai at 6,500 miles in the same capacity plane would be more like $350k. $1M wouldn’t make much sense because with 350pax you’d need them to pay $2,900 each leg just to cover the operating costs. So a round trip flight to Shanghai that was completely sold out in both directions would need to have an average ticket price of nearly $6k.