Average domestic air fares in the third quarter of 2009 fell to their lowest July-to-September level since 2005.
Fares dropped 14.4 percent from the third quarter of 2008 in the largest year-to-year decline on record, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported.
The $306 third-quarter 2009 average fares were down 14.4 percent from the all-time high, not inflation-adjusted, of $358 in the third quarter of 2008 and down 26.8 percent from the inflation-adjusted high for any third-quarter since 1995 set in 2000. The third quarter 2009 average fares were up 3.3 percent from the post-9/11 third-quarter $297 in 2004.
Fares are based on the total ticket value which consists of the price charged by the airlines plus any additional taxes and fees levied by an outside entity at the time of purchase. Fares include only the price paid at the time of the ticket purchase and do not include other fees, such as baggage fees, paid at the airport or onboard the aircraft.
Averages do not include frequent-flyer or “zero fares” or a few abnormally high reported fares.