Airlines Reporting Corp.-accredited travel agency air ticket sales totaled $7.7 billion in April 2022, a 156 percent year-over-year increase, the company announced Thursday. This figure is just under the $7.8 billion total from March, which saw "strong growth in corporate travel."
In addition, the average U.S. roundtrip ticket price totaled $585 in April, an 8 percent increase over March, and a 45 percent increase year over year, making April's average ticket price the highest recorded in the past seven years, according to ARC.
Month-over-month April results showed total sales decreased 1 percent, total passenger trips were down 10 percent, U.S. domestic trips were down 11 percent and international trips declined 8 percent. Year over year, however, total passenger trips settled by ARC in April increased 52 percent to 22.5 million from 14.7 million, and U.S. domestic trips increased 41 percent to 14.5 million, while international trips increased 78 percent to 7.9 million.
"April's month-over-month sales and passenger totals are in line with pre-pandemic travel trends," ARC VP of global customers and data products Steve Solomon said in a statement. "We continue to monitor the impact higher airfares have on traveler demand. Pre-pandemic, we typically saw a decrease in passenger trips from March to April and an even more profound drop in sales compared to what we saw this year."
April electronic miscellaneous documents, which include fees for ancillary products like upgraded seats and checked bags, increased 148 percent year over year to $14.8 million. Overall EMD transactions were up 79 percent to 225,135 for the same period.
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