Intrinsic cost of planes
How much do planes cost to build?
A rough order of magnitude seems to be around $1 million per ton. A380 weighs about 270 tons and costs about $300 millions. Boeing 747 and 777 are over $200 millions. Boeing 737 and Airbus 320 are over $50 millions.
In the small end, Eclipse 500 weighs 1600 kg and costs $1,5 millions.
Now, compare with cars!
A newly built SUV or van weighing 1600 kg seems to cost 2 orders of magnitude less than a jet plane of comparable weight.
What is the principal difference in materials, that causes planes to be so much harder to build than cars?