BTS: Domestic fares reach seven-year high
Domestic air fares in the final quarter of 2006 reached their highest level since 2000, new data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) has revealed.
Up 3.4 percent on 12 months previously, the average airline ticket in October through December was $378, shy of the historic fourth-quarter high of $407.
The Department of Transportation's BTS also reported that Anchorage had the highest average fares of the busiest 100 airports in the country, while Dallas Love had the cheapest.
The typical passengers using Ted Stevens International paid $537 per journey. Cincinnati, Honolulu, San Francisco, and New York JFK are the next most expensive airports to fly from.
At Dallas Love Field, the average fare is just over $235. Chicago Midway is the second-cheapest destination, ahead of Houston Hobby, Islip in New York, and Buffalo-Niagara.
Long Beach in California experienced the highest rise in air fares during the closing three months of last year, with Hartford, Connecticut; Providence, Rhode Island; Charleston, South Carolina; and Manchester, New Hampshire also experiencing high price inflation.
Competition to serve the Hawaiian Islands saw the cost of flights there tumble late last year.
BTS figures show that flights to Kauai underwent the sharpest fare reductions, ahead of Kona, Maui, and Honolulu. Charlotte in North Carolina completed the top five.
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