Air Ticket Sales by U.S. Travel Agents are 8 Percent Ahead Year-Over-Year

Sales Total $29 Billion in First Four Months of 2011

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May 16, 2011, 03:34 ET

ARLINGTON, Va., May 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- ARC, the financial settlement link between airlines and travel sellers, reported today that the consolidated dollar value of airline tickets sold by U.S.-based travel agencies increased 8.28 percent* year-over-year in the first four months of 2011 compared to the same period in 2010, and 31 percent over the same period in 2009. January through April 2011 ticket sales totalled $29.2 billion in 2011, compared to $26.9 billion in 2010, and $22.3 billion in 2009.

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Year-to-date passenger traffic for the first four months of 2011 fell 2.7 percent – at 116.4 million flyers, compared to 119.5 million in 2010 – while reflecting a 5 percent increase over the same period in 2009. Ticket transactions for January through April 2011 were down slightly, at -1.84 percent compared to the same period in 2010, while up 8 percent over the same period in 2009.

As of April 30, 2011, the top five domestic and international airport destinations* for the next four months of travel, based on tickets purchased that include a Saturday night stay, are:


Rank	Airport	Code
	USA
1	Orlando International	MCO
2	McCarran International – Las Vegas	LAS
3	Seattle/Tacoma International	SEA
4	Los Angeles International	LAX
5	Honolulu International	HNL
	International
1	Cancun International Airport (Mexico)	CUN
2	Heathrow Airport – London (Great Britain)	LHR
3	Sangster International – Montego Bay (Jamaica)	MBJ
4	Paris-Charles De Gaulle Airport (France)	CDG
5	Rome-Leonardo da Vinci Airport – Rome (Italy)	FCO

More detailed information is available at http://www.arccorp.com/news/stat/2011-04.jsp

About ARC:

As the financial backbone of the travel industry, ARC enables commerce among travel agencies, airlines, and travel suppliers, and offers them secure and accurate financial settlement services. More than 15,000 travel agencies and 190 airlines use the company's transaction settlement services that, in 2010, totaled more than $77 billion in value. ARC also supplies transactional data to organizations, facilitating better business decisions through fact-based market analyses. Established in 1984, ARC is headquartered in Arlington, Va. For more information, visit www.arccorp.com.

Contact:
Peter Abzug
703.816.8158
[email protected]

Notes for Editors:

* Ticket Sales and Top Destinations

Results based on sales data ending April 30, 2011 from 15,243 U.S. retail and corporate travel agencies, satellite ticket printing offices, and online travel agencies.
Does not include sales of tickets purchased directly from airline-based websites.
Total Sales are equal to the total amount paid for a ticket, which includes taxes and fees.

SOURCE ARC