July 2021 Air Ticket Sales in the US Up 947% Over July 2020
Airlines Reporting Corp. (ARC) this week released data showing net sales from ARC-accredited travel agencies totaling $4.1 billion in July 2021—a 947 percent increase compared to July 2020 and the second consecutive month of sales totaling more than $4 billion. July 2021 also represents the first monthly decrease in overall sales after seven consecutive months of growth, although this follows the typical seasonal pattern of sales decreasing from June to July each year.
Month over month, July 2021 results showed:
- Total passenger trips down 4 percent
- U.S. domestic trips decreased 2 percent
- International trips decreased 10 percent
Chuck Thackston, managing director of data science and research at ARC, explained that this slowdown in new air ticket sales during the summer months is typical. He added, “While airlines and organizations watch the new COVID-19 variants to determine the impact on travel, we anticipate new bookings and ticket sales to follow a similar pattern to prior years.”
Total passenger trips settled by ARC in July 2021 increased 229 percent year over year from 5.1 million to 16.8 million. U.S. domestic and international passenger trips increased 230 percent and 226 percent YOY, respectively. Overall, U.S. domestic passenger trips totaled 12.1 million compared to 4.7 million for international trips. The average U.S. round-trip ticket price increased to $458 in July 2021, up from $321 in July 2020.
Year over year, July 2021 electronic miscellaneous documents (EMD) sales increased 311 percent to $7,159,107, while EMD transactions increased 366 percent to 151,578. (This includes fees for products and services such as upgraded seats, checked bags, an unaccompanied minor, pet-in-cabin, etc.)
Results are based on monthly sales data ending July 31, 2021, from 10,938 U.S. retail and corporate travel agency locations, satellite ticket printing offices and online travel agencies. Results do not include sales of tickets purchased directly from airlines.
