Hawai'i and other tourist destinations should not count on high airfares declining anytime soon, an industry analyst told hundreds of officials attending the annual Hawai'i Tourism Conference yesterday.

The price of jet fuel is up 265 percent since 2000 and shows no signs of easing, said Brad DiFiore, director of Airport Consulting Services, Sabre Airline Solutions.

DiFiore said airlines have trimmed other costs and can't do too much more. For comparison, he said the portion of ticket prices needed to cover fuel is now more than 40 percent compared to the year 2000, when that was 15 percent.

From 2007 to 2008, U.S. carriers saw an increase in fuel costs of $20 billion, he said. And he said the rapid rise in fuel prices mean that the airlines could lose $13 billion in this year alone.

The fifth annual conference drew more than 700, which organizers said was record attendance from industry officials concerned about a slump in the state's No. 1 industry. The conference continues today with detailed presentations on marketing efforts in North America, Asia, Europe, and Oceania.

Airlines are cutting routes to save money. DiFiore cautioned that Hawai'i could see more cuts since most airlines haven't finalized their winter schedules yet.

DiFiore's talk was titled "Searching for Blue Skies — Navigating Hawai'i's Airline Industry in Turbulent Times." Since December 2007, 10 U.S. airlines have ceased scheduled operations, including two with a significant number of Hawai'i flights: Aloha and ATA.

DiFiore said that the loss of airlines has resulted in a net decline of 16 percent in air seats between Hawai'i and the Mainland and a 19 percent drop in interisland seats. An additional 12 percent drop in air seats from overseas has resulted in 775,000 fewer international passengers to Hawai'i from the year before, he said.

He suggested offering incentives to keep airlines in the market. Those could include waiving airport landing, rent or passenger handling fees. DiFiore said some markets have offered a guarantee of minimum revenue to air carriers as an incentive to add routes.

Such a strategy worked in Oregon, he said, in getting Northwest Airline to add a Portland-Tokyo route. He said the route was successful. "I'm not sure Oregon paid a dime," he said.

But state tourism liaison Marsha Wienert said cutting government fees hasn't proven that effective in the past. She said the state waived landing fees after the Sept. 11 attacks to try to encourage airlines to add more air routes.

"It didn't generate any additional seats," she said.