US Travel Agencies' Airline Ticket Sales Increase

U.S.-based travel agencies' airline ticket sales increased by 2.7 percent last month compared to March 2017, Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC) announced Tuesday. The consolidated dollar value of airline tickets sold by American agencies in March 2018 totaled $9.1 billion, with the average U.S. roundtrip ticket price coming in at $495, up $11 from the previous month. Average ticket prices are down approximately one percent year-over-year in March. ARC also announced the total number of passenger trips settled for U.S. travel agencies increased 0.5 percent to 26,646,579 compared to 26,516,456 in March 2017. While U.S. domestic trips decreased 3.1 percent, international passenger trips increased 7.1 percent. Electronic Miscellaneous Document (EMD) sales and transactions both dropped off by approximately 19 percent last month compared to the same month the previous year. EMD transactions fell to 128,641 in March 2018 versus 158,919 in March 2017 and EMD sales dropped from more than $9.2 million in March 2017 to $7.5 million last month.