Airline prices are set to rise this summer, says an industry spokesman:

“Airline capacity and routes flown are still down compared to recent years,” said Mark Koehler, Priceline’s senior vice president, Air. in a statement.

“We haven’t experienced the widespread, aggressive airfare sales seen a year ago. In general, travelers will find that summer airfares could be as much as 25% more expensive than last year, on average, and that’s before factoring in extra fees for baggage, pillows, food and such. Travelers who want to save on air travel will need to plan ahead, be flexible and try different approaches to booking their trips,” he said.

Airlines have started to see increased traffic as travelers returned after cutting back during the recession. The International Air Transport Association recently cut its full-year loss forecast for the airline industry by half to $2.8 billion.

Shares of airlines stocks jumped this morning.”

So, for anyone planning to become a stateless globe-trotter – and we’re all for it if your wallet can take it – here’s another monkey-wrench tossed into your plans.

Not only are fees and security at airports increasing, as I’ve blogged before, but prices and services on airlines are going up too. They even have a lavatory fee coming up at budget airline Ryanair. And they’re thinking of reducing the number of lavatories to make room for more seats.

Personally, I don’t think budget airlines – unless you fly often – are much of a saver. I’d rather pay $100 more and feel free to carry as much luggage as I want, get fed regularly with something other than $5 bags of pretzels, and have wait-staff paid enough not to glower at you.

Not long before you’ll be asked to bring your own seats or stand all the way….