U.S. airline ticket sales up 11.22 percent

ARLINGTON, VIRGINA : Airline tickets sold by U.S.-based agencies increased 11.22 percent year-over-year for the first two months of current year, and a 26 percent increase over the same period in 2009, a report released by the Airline Reporting Corporation (ARC) said Tuesday.

According to the report, January-February ticket sales totaled USD 13.5 billion, compared to USD 12.2 billion during the the same months in 2010, and USD 10.7 billion in 2009.

Year-to-date passenger traffic for the year was down slightly at 54.1 million flyers compared to 54.6 million in 2010, while reflecting a 6 percent increase over the same period in 2009.

Furthermore, ARC's report showed that passenger traffic for one of the busiest airports in the United States, John F. Kennedy International in New York, grew by 14.25 percent for January-February compared to the same period in 2010, while the overall passenger traffic volume for the top 10 busiest airports in the United States on average was slightly down.

Other important U.S. airports and their volume change include: San Francisco International (+0.44 percent), Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson (-1.12 percent), Los Angeles International (-1.17 percent), Houston George Bush Intercontinental (-1.54 percent), Denver International (-2.29 percent), Las Vegas McCarran International (-2.76 percent), Chicago O'Hare International (-3.13 percent), Phoenix Sky Harbor International (-3.65 percent), and Dallas-Fort Worth International (-5.56 percent).