U.S. travel agencies' May 2020 air ticket sales increased 69 percent month over month increase from April, indicating preliminary signs of air travel recovery, according to Airlines Reporting Corp. Year-over-year net sales in May, however, were down 102 percent, with the total consolidated dollar value of tickets sold by agencies in May totaling negative $198 million, compared to $9.2 billion in May 2019.
The average U.S. round-trip ticket price was $353 in May 2020.
Compared with April 2020, the total number of passenger trips settled by ARC in May rose 67 percent. Compared with May 2019, however, that figure fell 87 percent.
The number of May passenger trips handled by agencies with at least 70 percent self-reported corporate and government business fell 95.2 percent year over year.
The number of U.S. domestic and international trips in May grew 85 percent and 30 percent month over month, respectively, but fell 84 percent and 91 percent year over year.
Electronic miscellaneous document sales, which cover ancillaries such as seat upgrades, fell 81 percent year over year to $1.4 million in May. EMD transactions dropped 76 percent year over year.