Let's say that you're trying to get a ride back to your house.

One friend says that they're not heading in the direction of your house, but that they will drive you home if you pay for all of the gas for them to go there and back.

A group of five friends says that they are going to a house further away, but that at that second house is a group of three friends who will be heading to your house anyway after they get there. So on the way to the second house, you'd split the gas money with five people and on the way from the second house to your house you'd split the gas money with three people.

Even though the second option takes you further, it will be cheaper because it is a route that a lot of other people are taking too.

With planes it's not just the cost of the gas that they save, but all the expenses like paying the crew.

Demand.

They're not charging based on the airline's costs.

They're charging more for the flight that has higher demand.

More people want a direct flight, so they charge more.

Simple, most airlines have computers that can calculate at what cost of a ticket to a particular destination they will make the most money. This can fluctuate by time of day, what direction more people are flying and also here's the really complicated part.

The planes go on specific routes so even if they don't sell a ticket between 2 spots that plane still has to travel there to pickup the expected passengers at that destination.

It is all a factor of some routes while shorter have more demand and they can charge more.

Also interesting I once tried to book a ticket somewhere, saw that the price was say $300, but included a layover in a major airport a couple hours away. The layover was longer than it would take me to drive and the cost of car rental in major city was less. I then switched to just flying to the major airport but then they tried to route me through another hub first. I clicked non-stop and the price was $500. It is psychological, they can charge more for a "non-stop" so they do.

There are a lot more to airline flight costs than just distances flown. Supply/demand, competition also comes into play. So two flights on busy, competitive routes might cost less than the single route. Also, airlines will often show lower price but higher hassle flights to get you to spend more for convenience. Miami to Madrid isn't more expensive because it costs more to fly you there vs. a connection in New York, but because the airline knows you'll pay the $200 extra not to have to connect in New York and get to Madrid 6 hours later.

It's not necessarily that it actually costs more, but that it is more desirable, convenient, and easy so they can just charge more.

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