Air ticket sales by US travel agencies up 3.77 percent

ARLINGTON, Va. – 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 3.77 percent year-over-year in the first three quarters of 2012 compared to the same period in 2011, and 10.4 percent over the same period in 2010. From January through September 2012, ticket sales totalled $66.6 billion, compared to $64.2 billion in 2011, and $60.3 billion in 2010.

Year-to-date passenger segments for the first nine months of 2012 decreased by .02 percent – at 283.2 million segments, compared to 283.3 million in 2011 – while reflecting a .02 percent decrease from the same period in 2010. Ticket transactions between January and September 2012 also decreased somewhat by 0.40 percent over the same period in 2011, while down by 2.3 percent compared to the same period in 2010.