Airline industry experts attribute the increase in air travel to affordable airline tickets but say the demand for travel has been increasing for several years along with the rebound of the U.S. economy and the strengthening of consumer confidence.
In the first three months of 2018, the average domestic airline ticket sold for $360, a decline of 3.7 percent from the same period last year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
But the airline industry trade group warns that fuel prices are on the rise, which has begun pushing down the profit margins of the country’s airlines. Some airline experts have warned that such conditions may push fares up soon.
Fuel prices have increased 31.1 percent, with labor costs rising 5.7 percent in the first half of 2018 compared with the same period last year, according to Airlines for America. That has pushed profit margins for the nation’s airlines from an average of 11.5 percent in the first six months of 2017 to 7.2 percent in the same period this year, the group said.
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