Summer fares jump
- U.S. summer travelers are paying more as airlines raise fares and trim flying, with Raleigh-Durham passengers seeing higher prices while Delta pauses its Las Vegas route starting June 2. - WRAL, citing Going.com, reported domestic fares from Raleigh-Durham are up 18% from a year ago and international fares are up 7.5% as jet fuel costs climb. - Demand is still holding: AAA says 45.1 million Americans will travel over Memorial Day, a record, even as travelers shift toward shorter and cheaper trips. (newsroom.acg.aaa.com)
Summer trips are getting more expensive as airlines pass higher fuel costs to passengers and cut some less-profitable flights. (wral.com) (abcnews.com) At Raleigh-Durham International Airport, WRAL reported domestic fares are up 18% from a year ago and international fares are up 7.5%, citing data from Going.com. (wral.com) Delta Air Lines is also pausing its Raleigh-Durham-to-Las Vegas route on June 2 and says the service is expected to return in September. WRAL said travel adviser Harold Panel described that as airlines moving planes to markets with better returns. (wral.com) United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby told ABC News fares may need to rise 15% to 20% to cover fuel, and ABC reported average domestic airfare is already up $55 from a year earlier, based on Kayak data. (abcnews.com) ABC also reported that Delta, United and American have canceled more than 5,000 routes scheduled from May through September, or about 33 flights a day. CNN reported carriers are dropping services they no longer consider profitable. (abcnews.com) (abc17news.com) The pressure starts with fuel. CNN reported the closure of the Strait of Hormuz to commercial traffic disrupted supplies moving through a corridor that handles about 20% of global oil and natural gas. (abc17news.com) Even with higher prices, Americans are still traveling. AAA said 45.1 million people are expected to go at least 50 miles from home over Memorial Day, up 1.4 million from last year and above the previous 2005 record. (newsroom.acg.aaa.com) Most of that demand is shifting to the road. AAA projects 39.4 million Memorial Day travelers will drive, while 3.61 million will fly, a nearly 2% increase in air passengers that still falls short of the 2005 air-travel record. (newsroom.acg.aaa.com) Deloitte said the post-pandemic travel surge is slowing as households cut trip frequency, trip length, distance traveled and spending inside destinations. That is leaving travelers to keep the vacation but shrink the plan. (deloitte.com) For summer flyers, that means the cheap ticket is harder to find, the route map is thinner, and flexibility is worth more than usual. (wral.com) (abcnews.com)
