Where Airfares Are Rising And Falling
Flights aren't just getting more crowded. They're getting more expensive, too. The average domestic ticket cost $378 in the fourth quarter of 2006, the latest period for which data is available, according to the Department of Transportation. That's the highest fourth-quarter figure since 2000. Fares at the 100 busiest airports ranged from a high of $537 in Anchorage to a low of $234 at Dallas's Love Field–home of Southwest Airlines. Here's how the top 100 airports rank:
Where Airfares are Rising and Falling
This table lists the average change in airfares for the 100 busiest cities. Note: This data is by city, not by airport, so the data for Washington, D.C., for instance, includes both Dulles and Reagan National airports. As a result, this data cannot be cleanly linked with most of the other data, which is airport-specific.
Data is the latest available, and are based in changes from 4Q05 to 4Q06.
| City | Average pct. change in airfare, 2005 - 2006 |
|---|---|
| Long Beach, CA | 16.1 |
| Hartford, CT | 12.6 |
| Providence, RI | 10.6 |
| Charleston, SC | 9.8 |
| Manchester, NH | 9.2 |
| Salt Lake City, UT | 8.0 |
| Cincinnati, OH | 7.7 |
| Washington, DC | 6.9 |
| Anchorage, AK | 6.7 |
| Ft. Lauderdale, FL | 6.5 |
| Albany, NY | 6.5 |
| Savannah, GA | 5.8 |
| Orlando, FL | 5.6 |
| Norfolk/Virginia Beach, VA | 5.3 |
| San Francisco, CA | 5.0 |
| Miami, FL | 5.0 |
| Boise, ID | 4.9 |
| San Antonio, TX | 4.8 |
| Ontario/San Bernardino, CA | 4.6 |
| San Juan, PR | 4.5 |
| Oklahoma City, OK | 4.4 |
| Albuquerque, NM | 4.4 |
| Reno, NV | 4.2 |
| Long Island, NY | 4.1 |
| Tampa, FL | 4.1 |
| Louisville, KY | 4.1 |
| West Palm Beach/Palm Beach, FL | 4.1 |
| Greensboro/High Point, NC | 4.1 |
| Spokane, WA | 4.0 |
| Syracuse, NY | 4.0 |
| Greater Los Angeles Area, CA | 3.7 |
| El Paso, TX | 3.6 |
| Oakland, CA | 3.6 |
| Burbank/Glendale/Pasadena, CA | 3.6 |
| Birmingham, AL | 3.6 |
| Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN | 3.4 |
| Boston, MA | 3.3 |
| Los Angeles, CA | 3.2 |
| Cleveland, OH | 3.2 |
| Tucson, AZ | 3.2 |
| Austin, TX | 3.1 |
| Seattle/Tacoma, WA | 3.0 |
| Buffalo/Niagara, NY | 3.0 |
| Portland, OR | 2.9 |
| Tulsa, OK | 2.7 |
| Milwaukee, WI | 2.7 |
| Las Vegas, NV | 2.7 |
| Indianapolis, IN | 2.4 |
| Raleigh/Durham, NC | 2.3 |
| Phoenix, AZ | 2.1 |
| San Diego, CA | 2.0 |
| Santa Ana (Orange County), CA | 1.9 |
| Ft. Myers, FL | 1.9 |
| Omaha, NE | 1.9 |
| St. Louis, MO | 1.8 |
| Little Rock, AR | 1.7 |
| New York, NY/Newark, NJ | 1.6 |
| San Jose, CA | 1.3 |
| Jacksonville, FL | 0.9 |
| Sacramento, CA | 0.9 |
| Houston, TX | 0.8 |
| Philadelphia, PA | 0.8 |
| Atlanta, GA | 0.8 |
| Baltimore, MD | 0.8 |
| Nashville, TN | 0.3 |
| Rochester, NY | -0.3 |
| Memphis, TN | -0.4 |
| Chicago, IL | -0.8 |
| Dayton, OH | -0.9 |
| Grand Rapids, MI | -0.9 |
| Des Moines, IA | -1.1 |
| Kansas City, MO | -1.9 |
| New Orleans, LA | -2.1 |
| Detroit, MI | -2.6 |
| Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX | -3.0 |
| Richmond, VA | -3.8 |
| Columbus, OH | -3.8 |
| Pittsburgh, PA | -5.7 |
| Denver, CO | -5.8 |
| Colorado Springs, CO | -6.0 |
| Charlotte, NC | -7.2 |
| Honolulu, HI | -10.8 |
| Kahului (Maui), HI | -17.5 |
| Kona, HI | -18.6 |
| Lihue (Kauai), HI | -21.5 |
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Dept. of Transportation
Note: Average fares represent domestic itineraries where either a round-trip ticket or a one-way ticket with no return was purchased.