U.S.-based travel agency air ticket sales totaled $99.2 billion in 2024, up 3 percent from 2023, Airlines Reporting Corp. announced Thursday. That figure also is the highest annual total recorded by ARC.
A "surge" in December demand contributed to that total. The month's ticket sales nearly reached $6.8 billion, a 17 percent increase year over year, but a 7 percent decline compared with November 2024 sales, according to ARC.
"2024 was a momentous year for air travel, with eight record-breaking months of agency sales and a strong close in December," ARC chief commercial officer Steve Solomon said in a statement.
December passenger trips settled by ARC exceeded 19 million and were up 13 percent year over year, but down 8 percent month over month. Domestic trips were just shy of 11.4 million, representing a 12.7 percent increase versus December 2023, while international trips were nearly 7.7 million, for a 13.4 percent year-over-year increase. Compared with November 2024, domestic trips were down 11 percent, and international trips were down 3 percent.
The December average price of a U.S. domestic roundtrip ticket was $561, down from the $576 reported for November, but up from the $542 reported for December 2023.
The number of December trips sold by U.S. corporate agencies, those with at least 70 percent self-reported corporate and government business, increased 11.1 percent year over year, a recovery from the 2.7 percent dip reported in November.
New Distribution Capability transactions accounted for 20.3 percent of December transactions, a 10 percent increase year over year. Nearly 800 agencies reported NDC transactions during the month.
For full-year 2024, passenger trips totaled 284.9 million, up 6 percent year over year. Domestic trips increased 7 percent to 179.4 million, and international trips increased 4 percent to 105.5 million.
"Sales and passenger trip growth were made possible by industry collaboration to meet travelers and travel managers where they want to do business," Solomon said. "Airlines, agencies and technology providers made a concerted effort to support modern airline retailing in 2024, evidenced by total NDC transaction volume increasing more than 50 percent since 2023."
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