ARC: March U.S. air ticket sales set record

New data shows that air ticket sales purchased through U.S. travel agencies in March hit a record with a 22 percent increase from March 2022 and a total of $9.6 billion in ticket sales, according to Airlines Reporting Corp. (ARC). 

The March 2023 result was the largest monthly total ever recorded by the ARC. In addition to the normal boost that March usually brings as a popular travel time, growing international travel demand also helped boost monthly sales — international travel grew 17 percent from March 2022 and 14 percent from February 2023.

Month-over-month, air ticket sales increased 15 percent, total passenger trips increased 15 percent and U.S. domestic trips increased 16 percent. 

According to the data, trips taken during March increased 4 percent from last year, totaling 25.8 million trips. The average domestic air ticket price is $559. While that number is 4 percent higher than it was back in spring of 2022, it’s still 2 percent lower than it was in February, when the average was $571. 

“ARC’s air travel ticket data supports what we’re hearing from airlines regarding strong spring and summer demand for both corporate and leisure travel,” said Steve Solomon, chief commercial officer at ARC. “A larger portion of the summer demand is for top European destinations like London, Paris and Rome, which are showing significant year-over-year increases in air travel ticket purchases from U.S. travelers.”

-B