Total U.S. travel agency air transactions processed through ARC in May essentially were flat from year-earlier levels as another gain among the "other" agency segment offset another decline among online travel agencies, with mega travel management companies as a group coming in about flat. Meanwhile, airfares processed through ARC in May were up in each agency segment and for every advance purchase period. Among key city pairs tracked by BTN based on ARC data, average fares were up—mostly by double-digit percentages—in all but one market.
As a group, the mega TMCs (listed by ARC as American Express, BCD Travel, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, Expedia's Egencia, Hogg Robinson Group and Omega World Travel) experienced a very marginal decline in May air transactions processed through ARC, to just above 2.54 million. It was the first monthly decrease for the megas since January. Including BCD Travel's Travelocity Business but also primarily leisure-oriented sellers, online travel agencies as a group saw their ARC-processed transactions slip more than 5 percent in May, a fifth consecutive down month. All other agencies as a group achieved 6 percent growth in transactions, continuing a long upward progression.
While transaction trends were mixed, airfare results almost entirely showed increases in May. The overall average roundtrip fare (excluding taxes) for mega agency transactions was $801 (up from $776 in May 2013), for OTAs was $439 (up from $415) and for all others was $705 (up from $694).
By citypair, the Los Angeles International Airport-New York City (including LaGuardia, JFK and Newark airports) route had an average fare in May of $946, up 11 percent. Double-digit percentages also were recorded for Chicago O'Hare-Minneapolis/St. Paul (up 29 percent year over year to $429), a market that now has seen average fares increase near or above 30 percent for at least three consecutive months, as well as NYC-Atlanta (up 24 percent to $589), NYC- Miami (up 16 percent to $423) and Chicago-LAX (up 12 percent to $553).
Among the 12 key citypairs tracked for BTN by ARC's ARCLabs, the only average airfare decline in May was for Washington Dulles-LAX (down 2 percent to $655).