It is ridiculous, because your equipment is not disposable, and is going to serve for multiple pictures (possibly hundred of thousands before it dies out) and your trip was not just for that particular picture, but for other purposes as well (relaxing, tourism, etc...). It seems very far fetched to justify the price of a single photograph this way.
Also, if someone wanted me to fly somewhere to do a project for them, I am absolutely going to charge them for the plane tickets. Travel is difficult and costly, there's not only the cost of the ticket itself but the opportunity cost of all the things you could be doing instead of dealing with flying somewhere.
I'm not sure if you have read the post I am referring to, but that was not the case. The guy was not asked to go and fly somewhere to take a picture. He just said his picture was worth x thousands dollars because he took it with x,y equipment and travelled to that place to take it by himself.
I'm just saying that's not how pricing usually works. You don't charge for your costs, your charge at the price you can sell, and whether that's above your fixed costs is only a matter of whether your work is valuable or not. If I were a complete noob with expensive equipment, my market value would still be zero.