U.S. Travel Agency Air Ticket Sales Defy Seasonal Trends with 5% Month-over-Month Increase in November

Average U.S. Round-trip Ticket Price Up 26% Compared to Last Year

 

ARLINGTON, Va. – December 16, 2021 – Airlines Reporting Corp. (ARC) today released data showing ARC-accredited travel agency air ticket sales surpassed $4 billion for the second consecutive month, with total sales of $4.5 billion in November 2021. The total represents a 279% year-over-year increase from $1.2 billion in November 2020.*

 

Month over month, November 2021 results showed:

• Total sales increased 5%.
• Total passenger trips decreased 5%.
• U.S. domestic trips decreased 7%.
• International trips were down 1%.

 

“Pre-pandemic, month-over-month sales and passenger trips typically decline from October to November. The U.S. opening its borders to vaccinated international travelers on November 8 coupled with rising ticket prices helped increase total sales despite the overall number of trips declining,” said Steve Solomon, vice president of global sales, marketing, operations and customer experience at ARC. “We will continue to monitor demand changes due to the omicron variant and some countries reinstating travel and border restrictions.”

 

Total passenger trips settled by ARC in November 2021 increased 140% year over year from 6.9 million to 16.7 million. U.S. domestic passenger trips increased 144% to 11.4 million, while international passenger trips increased 132% to 5.3 million. The average U.S. round-trip ticket price in November 2021 was $464, a 26% increase from $368 in November 2020.

 

Year over year, November 2021 EMD sales increased 229% to $8,692,372. EMD transactions increased 187% to 167,230.**

 

More detailed information is available on ARC’s sales statistics page. Additional breakdown of corporate, leisure and online ticket sales can be found on the ARC COVID-19 data page.

 

 

About ARC:

As a leader in air travel intelligence and omnichannel distribution, ARC provides platforms, tools and insights that help the global travel community connect, grow and thrive. ARC enables the diverse retailing strategies of its customers by providing innovative technology, flexible settlement solutions and access to the world’s most comprehensive air transaction dataset. In 2019, ARC managed more than $97.4 billion in transactions between airlines and travel agencies, representing more than 302 million passenger trips. For more information, please visit arccorp.com.