Take a look at these chocolate bars. They look the same, but one costs over 120% more—just because it was bought at the airport. Most travelers know airport food is expensive, but few realize how steep the markups really are. A Chili’s burger, for example, is priced nearly 50% higher than it is outside.
Why? It’s not just because passengers are a “captive audience.” The real issue is a lack of competition. Walk into some airport food courts and you’ll see a dozen different brands—yet all of them are run by the same multi-billion-dollar company.
So how did we end up paying sky-high prices at airports? The answer lies in history.
In the early 20th century, airports looked more like train stations: crowded, grimy, and not very glamorous. The luxury began only once you boarded the plane. To grow the industry, airports needed both money and appeal. They experimented with anything that brought in cash—parking fees, pay toilets, even oil wells and swimming pools. By mid-century, they added high-end restaurants where locals celebrated anniversaries or prom nights. By the 1960s, terminals themselves were architectural landmarks designed to lure people in and generate revenue.
But back then, flying was reserved for the wealthy. Most passengers weren’t spending much time in airports anyway. That changed in 1978, when Congress deregulated airlines. Fares dropped, competition exploded, and air travel nearly doubled within a decade. Suddenly, airports were packed with ordinary travelers waiting for connections—and they needed something to do.
The solution? Turn terminals into malls. In the early 1990s, Pittsburgh International Airport became the first in the U.S. to embrace this model, with more than 100 shops and restaurants. Revenue jumped 75% in just six years—without raising prices—because Pittsburgh adopted “street pricing,” charging the same inside the airport as outside. Other airports followed suit, and for a while, passengers were happy.
But today, that chocolate bar costing double tells a different story. Most U.S. airports now use “street pricing plus”—street price plus an extra 10–15%. In theory, that’s supposed to be a fair markup. In reality, lax enforcement means businesses often charge far more. A yogurt in one terminal was marked up 84%, and M&M’s at another airport were nearly 70% higher than store prices.
Airports defend the costs, pointing to higher wages, tighter security, and expensive construction. Businesses pay hefty rent too—anywhere from 6% to 20% of sales. But what they don’t highlight is the lack of real competition. Six giant corporations control most airport food and retail in the U.S., running over 13,000 locations worldwide. What looks like variety is often the same company behind different storefronts. And mergers are consolidating the industry even further.
After 9/11, longer security times meant more “dwell time”—hours passengers spend inside terminals. Airports realized that more waiting meant more buying. Today, nearly half of airport revenue comes from things unrelated to flying, like parking, food, and retail. Since 2010, food and beverage revenue at U.S. airports has more than doubled.
There are exceptions. Portland International Airport (PDX) still enforces true street pricing. Whatever you pay downtown is what you’ll pay inside the terminal. And it works—passenger spending per head at PDX is 20% higher than the national average. But most airports show no signs of following Portland’s example. Some, like LAX, have even scrapped price caps altogether.
For travelers, this means markups are here to stay. Surveys show food and drink costs are the lowest-rated aspect of the airport experience, and Congress has even called for an investigation into excessive concession pricing. Still, with so few choices beyond security, most passengers have no option but to pay up.
So next time you head to the airport, it might be smarter to grab your snacks before you fly—because once you’re inside, that $2 chocolate bar could easily turn into $5.
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