Airlines Reporting Corp.-accredited air ticket sales in March totaled more than $9.6 billion, a 22 percent increase year over year, and the highest monthly total ARC has recorded, according to the organization. The previous record of $9.3 billion was set in March 2019.
Total March passenger trips settled by ARC increased 3.5 percent year over year to more than 25.8 million. International trips increased 17.1 percent to nearly 10.2 million, while domestic trips decreased 3.7 percent to about 15.6 million. The month’s sales and passenger trip totals were boosted by a “robust increase in international travel demand from the comparable prior-year period,” according to ARC.
“ARC’s air travel ticket data supports what we’re hearing from airlines regarding strong spring and summer demand for both corporate and leisure travel,” ARC chief commercial officer Steve Solomon said in a statement. “A larger portion of the summer demand is for top European destinations like London, Paris and Rome, which are showing significant year-over-year increases in air travel ticket purchases from U.S. travelers.
Month over month, total ticket sales increased 15 percent, while total passenger trips also increased 15.3 percent. U.S. domestic trips increased 16 percent compared with February, and international trips increased 14.2 percent for the same period.
The average March 2023 U.S. round-trip air travel ticket price was $559, about 4 percent higher than the March 2022 average of $540 and about a 2 percent decrease from $571 in February.
March electronic miscellaneous document sales, which include fees for such ancillary products as upgraded seats and checked bags, increased 127 percent year over year to $26.7 million, and were up about 22 percent from February’s $21.8 million. Ancillary transactions increased 60 percent to more than 373,100 over the same period, representing a nearly 15 percent increase from February.
