Cheap Flight International

Why is domestic (inter-South Ameirca) air travel so damn expensive? Hi, I am in the process of booking my local flights in South America for my holiday in March and I can't get over how expensive travel is in South America, its over $350usd just to get a flight from Lima to Guayaquil (a short flight) and was going to cost me $500usd+ from Argentina to Ecuador. I have shopped around and seen these are the going rates. Back to my question - Are these rates because of the lower quantity of people flying in ratio to the populations of these countries? My theory on these prices is the more proportional people fly in richer countries.. the more competition there hence cheaper airfares. I am from New Zealand and Australia and my return ticket to South America is almost the same as a ticket from Argentina to Ecuador (and that's only one way too!)... I know in the countries I've travelled (Europe, UK, New Zealand, Australia, Asia).. air travel is cheap comparatively. I know this is a silly question.. but being a pilot this interests me and but I would love to hear some other thoughts. Thanks, Jason.