Airline Ticket Sales on Upward Trend

Airlines Reporting Corp. (ARC) today released data showing net sales from ARC-accredited travel agencies totaling $1.5 billion in February 2021, up 20% compared to January 2021.* The February total is a 79% drop year over year compared to February 2020, when net sales totaled $7.2 billion.
Month over month, February 2021 results showed:

• Total passenger trips increased 16%;
• U.S. domestic trips up 19%; and
  
• International trips up 9%.

“This is the second month of 20% or greater growth in sales, which is an encouraging sign for air travel, particularly in the U.S.” said Chuck Thackston, ARC’s managing director of data science and research. “The easing of travel restrictions as vaccine availability increases should further fuel the recovery in the coming months.”

Total passenger trips settled by ARC in February 2021 were down 63% year over year, from 24,859,370 to 9,289,645. U.S. domestic trips were down 59% to 6.6 million, and international trips down 70% to 2.7 million YOY. The average U.S. round-trip ticket price decreased from $488 in February 2020 to $346 in February 2021.
Year over year, EMD sales for February 2021 decreased 61% to $3,082,682, while EMD transactions were down 53% to 64,331.