There are 'fares' & 'fares'. Is it apples & apples? That debate has been had many times between many carriers. I often fly a national carrier. Often its final paid price with luggage is cheaper than a LoCo from the same area, not necessarily airport. e.g. the final price is €120 national & €150 Loco. Not too much if convenience might dictate the higher fare. But, I'm then astounded, when clicking on 'fare details' of the national to see the 'ticket fare' is as low as €30. The add ons are security, pax tax, environment tax, ATC charges, airport xyz, etc. etc. In that case even the ticket fare was cheaper than the LoCo which started life at say €90. The LoCo price breakdown only publishes the add ons charged by the airline after you've bought the ticket. What puzzles me is that the ticket is sometimes, not this occasion, cheaper than the mandatory add-ons charged by the airport. How can that be???? Surely every carrier has to pay the local charges equally?
Thus it is still all a mystery and finding apples & apples is not easy. It still comes down to the final charges on the credit card.