US Travel Agency Air Ticket Sales in October Uphold Upward Trend

Airlines Reporting Corp. (ARC) today released its numbers on October 2020’s net air-travel sales, compiled from transactions settled by ARC for accredited U.S. travel agencies, including online travel agencies.

The data revealed that air ticket sales were up from nearly $1.2 billion in September to more than $1.4 billion in October, marking the fourth consecutive month of modest growth in air-ticket sales as the industry progressively recovers from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, year over year, October sales were still down 83 percent in comparison with October 2019.

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“Trips from the U.S. to the Caribbean and Mexico are fueling the increase in month-over-month international travel, while European and Asian travel originating from the U.S. remains low,” said Chuck Thackston, ARC’s managing director of data science.

“Momentum in the recovery continues to fluctuate as rules change regularly in different U.S. states as well as other countries,” Thackston explained. “We are encouraged by what we have seen over the past several months, but understand that a full recovery will take time.”

Month over month, October 2020 results showed:

—A seven-percent increase in the total number of passenger trips.

—U.S. domestic trips up three percent.

—International trips up 17 percent.

Year over year (YOY) comparisons revealed:

—Total passenger trips in October 2020 were down 68 percent YOY, falling from 25,396,442 to 8,145,750.

—U.S. domestic trips were down 65 percent to 5.7 million YOY, while international were down 73 percent to 2.4 million.

—The average U.S. round-trip ticket price decreased from $506 in October 2019 to $377 in October 2020.

In terms of Electronic Miscellaneous Document (EMD), which indicate sales of ancillary products and services like upgraded seats, checked luggage, pet-in-cabin, etc.:

—EMD sales increased 33 percent and EMD transactions increased 20 percent, month over month.
— Year over year, EMD sales for October 2020 fell 55 percent to $3,057,166, while EMD transactions were down 44 percent to 66,235.

More detailed information and data illustrations are available on ARC’s website.

For more information, visit arccorp.com.