February U.S.-based agency air ticket sales exceeded $8.9 billion, about $3 million less than January's record-setting total, Airlines Reporting Corp. announced Thursday. The February total represents a nearly 6.5 percent year-over-year increase.
Total passenger trips were up nearly 8.8 percent year over year to more than 24.3 million but were down about 5.2 percent month over month. U.S. domestic trips exceeded 15 million for an 11.3 percent increase over February 2023. They, however, were down about 6 percent from January 2024. International trips were up 4.9 percent year over year to more than 9.3 million, which represents a 4 percent decrease month over month.
"Americans continue to prioritize domestic travel in the early part of the year, with year-over-year trips to U.S. destinations outpacing those of international trips," ARC chief commercial officer Steve Solomon said in a statement. "Airlines are seeing robust demand from both corporate and leisure travelers, signaling the continued health and anticipated growth in air travel for 2024."
The February average price of a U.S. domestic roundtrip ticket was $573, nearly even with February 2023's $571 average fare, but up from January 2024's average of $546.
February electronic miscellaneous document sales, which include fees for such ancillary products as upgraded seats and checked bags, increased 33.8 percent year over year to more than $29.1 million, which also represents a month-over-month increase of 4.6 percent. The number of ancillary transactions increased 46.6 percent year over year to more than 476,600 and were up from January's nearly 463,000.
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