Passengers Pay Most At CVG, Least At DAL

Average domestic air fares in the third quarter of 2008 reached $362, the highest level of average fares for any quarter in the 13 years measured by available data, the US Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported Wednesday.

BTS reported the average domestic itinerary fare in the third quarter was 2.8 percent higher than the $352 average domestic fare in the second quarter of 2008, the previous quarterly high. Average domestic air fares in the third quarter of 2008 were up 10.4 percent from the third quarter of 2007 in the largest year-to-year increase since the second quarter of 2006, and average fares increased 7.4 percent above the previous July-to-September high set in 2000.

The third-quarter 2008 average fare was up 22.0 percent from the post-9/11 third-quarter low of $297 in 2004.

Average fares increased 25.8 percent from the third quarter of 1995 to the third quarter of 2008 compared to a cumulative 42.8 percent inflation rate.  Third quarter 2008 fares increased 10.4 percent from the third quarter of 2007 compared to a 4.9 percent inflation rate. Average fares are based on domestic itinerary fares, round-trip or one-way for which no return is purchased, and include taxes and fees.

Of the top 100 airports based on originating passengers, the highest third-quarter average fares were in Cincinnati; followed by Knoxville, TN; Greenville/Spartanburg, SC; Grand Rapids, MI; and Madison, WI. The lowest fares in the top 100 airports were at Dallas Love; followed by Orlando, FL; Burbank, CA; Long Beach, CA; and Islip, NY.

The largest year-to-year average fare increases for the third quarter among the 100 largest airports, ranked by 2007 originating passengers, was 26.8 percent in Minneapolis/St. Paul; followed by Islip, NY; Chicago Midway; Knoxville, TN;  and Columbus, OH. The biggest year-to-year average decrease was 4.8 percent in Long Beach, CA; followed by Burlington, VT; Salt Lake City, UT; Atlanta; and San Antonio, TX.

BTS notes low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines failed to file its report for the third quarter, which may have skewed the results slightly due to the exclusion of Atlantic City, NJ... where Spirit operates more than 90 percent of the flights there.

FMI: Read The Full Release