The total consolidated dollar value of airline ticket sales sold by U.S.-based travel agencies in 2018 totaled $95 billion, up 7.1 percent, according to Airlines Reporting Corp. The average price for a U.S. round-trip ticket was $490 in 2018, up $6 from 2017. ARC president and CEO Mike Premo attributed the rise in sales in 2018 to "more capacity in the airline industry, more international (higher-priced) tickets, fuel-related fare increases and surcharges from higher fuel costs, more taxes and passenger facility charges."
Passenger trips rose 2.7 percent to 296 million in 2018. U.S. domestic trips totaled 187 million, up 0.24 percent, while international passenger trips jumped 7.3 percent to 109 million. As a benchmark of corporate travel trends, ARC reports the number of trips handled by agencies that self-report as handling at least 70 percent corporate/government business. Those trips rose 3.79 percent in 2018.
Electronic miscellaneous document transactions, which indicate ancillary services like premium seats, fell 1.5 percent in 2018. EMD sales totaled $78 million, up 1.62 percent.
For December, ticket sales rose 3.5 percent year over year to $5.6 billion.
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