More travelers will take to the skies this summer, the US airlines' trade and lobby group predicted today.
About 210 million passengers, or 2.28 million a day, are expected to fly on US carriers between June 1 and August 31.
That's up 1.5 per cent from last summer and the highest level in six years, according to the trade and lobbying group, Airlines for America.
The forecast includes 29.9 million travelers, or 325,000 a day, flying US airlines to international destinations, an all-time high. Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan are the top five nonstop international destinations, based on published schedules.
Airlines for America does not forecast summer airfares. The average cost of a ticket last year was USD 381, up 0.1 per cent from 2012.
Airlines typically charge more for tickets around holidays and other peak travel times and industry watchers expect a slight increase this summer.
Those fares do not include the price of checking luggage, typically USD 50 roundtrip, or any associated change fees.
Airlines collected USD 3.35 billion in baggage fees last year and an additional USD 2.81 billion in reservation change fees.
Those fees, along with a 5 per cent drop in fuel prices, helped the nine publicly traded US airlines post a USD 401 million net profit in the first three months of this year, traditionally the hardest quarter for airlines.
