Airfare Still Low, But Rising Quickly as More Americans Travel
If you’re thinking about booking a flight to take advantage of rock-bottom, coronavirus-era airfares, you better get busy. A recent uptick in the number of flights being booked, spurred on by hopes that nationwide vaccinations will make it safe to travel again, has been pushing fares higher.
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CNBC recently reported that searches for summer travel have risen 27% each week since President Biden announced that all American adults will be eligible for vaccines by May, according to Kayak, a travel search site. Meanwhile, airfares for the 100 top search destinations in the United States have risen 7% month-over-month.
Data from airfare tracker Harrell Associates found that the average minimum domestic leisure fare covering 300 different routes was $59 for the week of March 15, 2021, CBS News reported. That was up 14% from the $52 average for the week of March 16, 2020. The average minimum domestic fare represents the cheapest available one-way ticket price on the market.
Those price hikes are being driven by a similar increase in airline passengers. Reuters reported that the Transportation Security Administration screened more than 1.5 million passengers on Sunday — the most since March 2020. Sunday also marked the 11th straight day that the number of airline passengers exceeded 1 million.
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Despite the recent uptick, demand for U.S. air travel still lags well behind historical levels. Sunday’s number of screenings was down 30% from pre-COVID 19 levels, and demand for international and business travel remains weak, Reuters reported. Airfares are likewise much lower than they were before the coronavirus.
The pandemic has had a huge impact on air travel worldwide, with the number of U.S. airline passengers declining 60% in 2020. Airlines for America, a trade group, recently said that domestic passenger demand has fallen 47% from pre-coronavirus levels, while international travel demand dropped 68%.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Airfare Still Low, But Rising Quickly as More Americans Travel
