The latest statistics from the US Department of Transportation reveal that domestic airfares increased significantly from 2021 to 2022. The average domestic airfare in 2022 was $378. When adjusted for inflation, this represents a 14.1% increase from the average airfare of $332 in 2021. The below graph highlights the average domestic airfare since 1995.
Image: US Department of Transportation
The airfares in question included all fees and charges levied by the airline required for the passenger to board the aircraft. They also included any additional taxes and fees levied by an outside entity at the time of ticket purchase. Any fees for optional services, such as baggage fees, were not included. The study included full-service carriers such as Delta Air Lines, as well as low-cost and ultra-low-cost carriers such as Spirit Airlines.
The impact of the pandemic is clearly visible, as airlines battled to win back wary travelers with much lower than normal airfares. However, now that air travel has all but recovered, airlines across the US are looking to recoup some of their losses. However, this was not the case in every country. In Australia, as capacity has risen once again, airfares fell by 13% from December 2022 to January 2023, albeit after a period of high airfares.
2022 was cheaper than pre-pandemic years
When compared to 2019, average domestic airfares have decreased. Prior to the pandemic, they were at $403, making 2022’s figure of $378 just over 6.2% lower when adjusted for inflation.
Photo: Joe Kunzler | Simple Flying
The most expensive year on record was 2000, when average domestic airfares reached a high of $576. When adjusted for inflation, 2022’s average of $378 was 34.4% lower than the peak 22 years earlier.
Quarter-by-quarter breakdown
When looking specifically at Q4 2022, average domestic airfares increased by 2.6% from Q3 of the same year, when adjusted for inflation, rising from $384 to $394.
Image: US Department of Transportation
Domestic passenger numbers decreased slightly from 83.5 million in Q3 2022 to 82.7 million in Q4 2022. However, this was a significant increase compared to the 31.6 million seen in Q4 2020, at the height of the pandemic. The figures from 2022 were only slightly lower than those seen prior to the pandemic – in Q4 2019, domestic passenger numbers peaked at 84 million.
Airport size is also a factor
When it comes to looking at airfares at airports of different sizes, larger airports saw higher average fares in Q4 2022 compared to those with lower passenger numbers. This is perhaps unsurprising, given the higher landing and parking fees that airlines face at larger airports, which are reflected in the increased ticket prices.
Airports with more than two million passengers recorded an average domestic airfare of $402, compared to a low of $363 at airports with 1.5 – 1.99 million passengers, as seen in the below graph from the US Department of Transportation:
Image: US Department of Transportation
