January 2025 U.S.-based agency air ticket sales totaled nearly $9.4 billion, an increase of 4.9 percent year over year, according to Airlines Reporting Corp.
Total January passenger trips settled by ARC increased 4 percent year over year to more than 26.7 million. Domestic trips increased about 3 percent versus January 2024 to more than 16.4 million. International trips were up 5.8 percent year over year to nearly 10.3 million.
The number of January trips sold by U.S. corporate agencies, those with at least 70 percent self-reported corporate and government business, dipped 0.44 percent year over year after increasing more than 11 percent in December 2024.
The January average price of a U.S. domestic roundtrip ticket was $557, up from the $546 reported in January 2024 and down from the $561 reported in December 2024.
ARC this month also shared trends on the average prices for domestic economy and premium tickets. Premium-class tickets are defined as fare codes assigned to first class, business class and business class premium, according to ARC. Economy-class fares are those that exclude those categories.
The January average price of a U.S. domestic roundtrip economy ticket price was $471, up about 1 percent year over year and even with December's price. The average price of a U.S. domestic roundtrip premium ticket was $1,224, a decrease of 2 percent year over year and an increase of 1 percent compared with December 2024.
New Distribution Capability transactions accounted for 18.4 percent of the January total ARC reported and settled, representing a 9 percent increase from the 16.9 percent reported in January 2024, with 896 agencies reporting NDC transactions for the month.
"Our sales data showed that the average price for airline premium seats in 2024 was the lowest it's been over the past three years," ARC chief commercial officer Steve Solomon said in a statement. "With business and leisure travel demand remaining high in January, travel agencies have plenty to be optimistic about to start 2025."
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