January U.S.-based agency air ticket sales surpassed $8.9 billion, a new January record, Airlines Reporting Corp. announced Thursday. The total represents a 6.9 percent increase year over year and a 54.8 percent increase from December 2023.
Total passenger trips for January were up 7.3 percent year over year to nearly 25.7 million, which also represents a 52.5 percent increase month over month. U.S. domestic trips totaled nearly 16 million for an 8 percent increase over January 2023 and a 58.1 percent increase from December 2023. International trips exceeded 9.7 million, representing a 6.1 year-over-year uptick and a 44 percent increase month over month.
“January’s results represent a promising start to air travel in 2024 as we approach the first busy travel period,” ARC chief commercial officer Steve Solomon said in a statement. “Business travel also had a solid month with corporate travel agency settled trips increasing 7 percent year over year.”
The January average price of a U.S. domestic roundtrip ticket was $546, a 3.4 percent increase from a year prior, and slightly up from December’s $542.
Electronic miscellaneous document sales, which include fees for such ancillary products as upgraded seats and checked bags, increased 36.8 percent year over year to nearly $27.9 million. That figure also represents a 35.3 percent increase month over month. Total EMD transactions for January were nearly 463,000, up 38.7 percent year over year and 40.5 percent from December 2023.
