The Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport ranked the highest in the state and the second highest in the nation for average ticket prices, trailing only the Huntsville, Ala. airport.
Dayton’s average price was $371 in 2013, a 2.5 increase from 2012 and more than 9 percent from 2000. In Ohio, only the Akron/Canton airport had a cheaper average fare at $334. Cincinnati’s average fare was $510, compared to $528 at the Huntsville Airport.
National aviation expert Jay Ratliff said competition and low cost carriers are what’s driving the average ticket prices down in Dayton, which has had some of the lowest prices for decades.
“There is much less competition in Cincinnati than what we have in Dayton, and that’s one of the reason that the Dayton fares have remained on average cheaper,” Ratliff said.
Ratliff said that this could change by the end of this year or early next year when CVG’s rates begin to factor in recently added low fare airlines Frontier and Allegiant.
The lowest fares were at the airport in Long Beach, Ca., at $248 a round-trip ticket, followed by Las Vegas, Nevada at $254, according to the Department of Transportation.
The average round-trip prices include the busy Thanksgiving and Christmas season, which tend to skew the average, according to Ratliff.
“Anything under $400 given that time of year is going to be a decent fare because half of that time is considered a high time to travel because of the holidays,” Ratliff said.
Prices fluctuate wildly depending on when people fly, where they are going, and how they prefer to fly, according to Ratliff.
Frequent business traveler Tonia Shroyer of Tipp City said the Dayton airport offers competitively low fares, but she was surprised it was the cheapest in the region.
“I would have assumed that Cincinnati or Columbus would have been lower,” Shroyer said.
Shroyer said she bargain hunts for the best fares online.
“I look at Cincinnati, I look at Columbus. They may be within the $25 to $50 range or less, but by the time you drive, the gas, and the hours are not what you want to fly. It’s always been great here,” Shroyer said.
Dayton airport spokeswoman Linda Hughes said the lower prices are good for consumers.
“Certainly we try to market the airport as an ‘easy to and through.’ We try to make the whole travel experience a great value for our passengers coming through. When you take that and add a lower fair to your destination it makes it even more worth your while,” Hughes said.
Virginia Steepleton of Lima was heading to Texas last week, but says she frequently flies from Dayton to Virginia Beach.
“It’s close, it’s convenient. I can come right down 75, so there’s no problem with traffic. It’s small, it’s easy to get around, and friendly,” Steepleton said.
Ratliff said their are some hurdles for travelers flying out of Dayton.
“The flip side is that you might not have the opportunity to catch a non-stop flight out of Dayton, that you could out of Cincinnati, so sometimes people will prefer to pay a few extra dollars to get a non-stop to the west coast,” Ratliff said.
Hughes said people may not have as many non-stop flight options in Dayton, but added they have to shop for what is going to be best for their personal needs.
“If you need to be able to come through an airport with no hassle, maybe you’ve got a lot of kids you are traveling with, a smaller foot print of an airport may be attractive for you,” Hughes said.