ARC reported Thursday that it processed 11.6 million air transactions in July, a 4.8% decrease from the previous July.
According to ARC statistics, which provide transaction data for 2006 through 2011, 11.6 million was the lowest figure for July transactions among the six years.
Even in July 2009, when the U.S. was in the midst of a recession, ARC processed 11.8 million transactions.
Higher airfares, however, resulted in ARC’s total sales increasing slightly for July 2011. ARC processed $6.5 billion in sales in July, an increase of just under 1%.
Through the first seven months of 2011, ARC transactions were down 2.1%, to 88.1 million. Through July, this year’s sales were at $50.6 billion, a 6.4% increase.