The number of passenger air trips in March sold by U.S.-based corporate travel agencies and settled through Airlines Reporting Corp. declined year over year for the first time since March 2021, by 5 percent, according to ARC.
Tickets sold by U.S. corporate agencies, those with at least 70 percent self-reported corporate and government business, began to recover in April 2021 and showed steady year-over-year double- or triple-digit percentage increases until March 2023, after which the variances leveled off.
Total March 2024 U.S.-based agency air ticket sales were nearly $9.4 billion, down 2.7 percent year over year, but up 4.7 percent month over month. The number of total passenger trips exceeded 25.5 million, a 1 percent decrease from March 2023 but a 5 percent increase from February 2024.
March domestic trips totaled nearly 15.8 million, an increase of nearly 0.8 percent year over year and 5 percent month over month. International trips neared 9.8 million for a year-over-year decrease of 3.7 percent, but a month-over-month increase of 4.9 percent.
"Despite March's slight decrease in year-over-year sales totals, airlines and U.S. travel agencies experienced a positive first quarter in 2024," ARC chief commercial officer Steve Solomon said in a statement. "U.S. domestic travel demand powered much of this growth. With the summer travel season nearing, the strong dollar is helping drive demand to international destinations by U.S.-based travelers."
The March average price of a U.S. domestic roundtrip ticket was $571, nearly even with February's $573 average, but up from $559 in March 2023.
March electronic miscellaneous document sales, which include fees for such ancillary products as upgraded seats and checked bags, increased 21.3 percent year over year to nearly $32.4 million. That figure also represents an 11.1 percent increase compared with February 2024. The number of March ancillary transactions exceeded 534,000, for a 43.2 percent increase versus March 2023 and were up from February's nearly 477,000.
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