Business Travel News | BusinessTravelNews.com

The Air Transport Association today said major domestic airlines posted their fifth consecutive month of year-over-year revenue increases, with passenger revenue up 21 percent over May 2009. ATA attributed the gains to both an increase in passenger traffic and firmer pricing.

ATA said 2 percent more domestic passengers last month took to the skies on its member carriers, which include the largest domestic airlines and represent more than 90 percent of U.S. passenger traffic, while the average price to fly a domestic mile increased 17 percent.

International passenger revenue fared even better with a 36 percent increase, compared with May last year, ATA reported. "These results reflect encouraging signs of the nation's economic recovery from the very deep hole of a year ago," ATA president and CEO James May said.