Average airlines fares at Raleigh-Durham International Airport dropped in the first quarter, giving local travelers a welcome price break.
The average domestic fare at RDU was $271 during the first three months of the year, the U.S. Department of Transportation reported last week.
That was down 10 percent from the same quarter last year. And it was well below the national average of $315. The national average dropped 6 percent from last year.
RDU benefits from healthy competition, especially from low-fare carriers such as Southwest Airlines, which tends to keep prices down.
While fares tend to rise during the busy summer season, experts say fares also have been held down this year by weaker demand during the recession.
The airport's track record looks even better over a longer time period.
From 1995 to the first quarter of 2009, average fares at RDU dropped nearly 28 percent, reports the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
That put RDU at No. 5 for average fare decreases among the country's largest airports.
Assistant Business Editor Alan M. Wolf joined the N&O in 1999 covering the business of health care. He became an editor in 2001, and helps oversee the paper's daily business coverage and Sunday Work&Money section. He lives in Clayton with his wife and two children. Reach him at 919-829-4572 or
Comments
As a former Airline employee
Mon, 08/03/2009 - 10:40 — henryeAs a former Airline employee of 25 years, Congress scrapped the Finest Airline System in the World in the late 70s, They Deregulated the Airlines overnight, after supposedly giving them three years,But in there usual Dumbness they forgot to Scrap the Civil Aeronautic Board who oversaw all the Airline Routes They were immediately trading Routes for Jobs, So you can see for yourself where it was an overnight deal, All of a Sudden we had more Airlines, Most of them using used Planes to under cut the Fares of the former Airlines, And even today there is still a lot of instability in the Airlines and they are all trying to cut corners they have to to stay in Business
Isn't this special?
Mon, 08/03/2009 - 09:46 — TheLibertineNow that so many people are out of work and taxes are increasing for businesses and individuals, I suppose that fares could pretty much bottom out and it won't make a difference. No one will be traveling anyway. Of course, a stationary populace is much easier to control (I mean manage) than a traveling one.