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Average air fares rise 6.5 percent since 2005
Rising fuel costs, mergers and fewer seats have led to a rise in airfares over the past eight years.
Research by USA Today reveals fares have 6.5% on average, after inflation, since the start of 2005, while secondary airports in metro areas have tended to see greater fare hikes.
Ticket prices are higher in cities that have seen sharp drops in domestic air service, while some airports that have seen an increase in flights have experienced a price drop.
USA Today says the findings "underscore the law of supply and demand".
It reveals Cincinnati, which has lost 80% of its domestic airline seats since the start of 2005, saw the average ticket price increase 26%.
Salt Lake City, where fares rose 18% between the first quarters of 2005 and 2013, is down 21% in seats.
Charlotte Douglas, San Francisco and Denver International airports, where domestic seats for sale increased, saw domestic fares decline on average by 18%.
Overall, between the first quarter of 2005 and the first quarter of 2013, prices have risen 6.5% on average, after inflation, at the top 100 airports in the 48 contiguous states.
But fares varied widely from airport to airport, and several experienced increases that were far greater.
The analysis also found that secondary airports in metro areas with multiple airports tended to see greater fare hikes than their primary counterparts, as airlines consolidated service at primary portals.
Domestic airfares at Manchester Boston-Regional and Theodore Francis Green State in Providence increased 10% and 7% respectively, compared with a 2% increase at Boston Logan.
Fares decreased at San Francisco International while increasing 9% at San Jose and 6% at Oakland’s Metropolitan International Airport.
Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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