Airlines Reporting Corp. (ARC) has reported that consolidated dollar value of airline tickets sold by US-based travel agencies increased nearly 11% in October as compared to October 2017, totalling $8.2 billion vs. $7.4 billion. The average US round-trip ticket price for October 2018 was $509, up $23 from the same time in 2017.
The total number of passenger trips settled by ARC for US travel agencies increased approximately five percent to 25,023,323 compared to 23,914,873 in October 2017. US domestic trips increased more than 2% while international passenger trips increased nearly 10%.
Electronic Miscellaneous Document (EMD) sales in October 2018 totalled $6.1 million, an almost 6% increase compared to October 2017. EMD transactions also increased 0.92% to 100,655 in October 2018 vs. 99,740 in October 2017.
Cowen and Company analysts are predicting this upward trend to continue next year, which will lead to higher fares as the “airport infrastructure build out will continue to force airlines towards an upward bias in fares given the +$100bn in spending expected over the next five years”.