Air ticket sales transactions by U.S. travel agencies climbed above 40% of 2019 levels last week for the first time since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, ARC data shows.
For the seven days ending Feb. 28, agencies sold 58.9% fewer airline tickets than for the same period in 2019. By comparison, the transaction count a week earlier was off 64% from 2019.
Related report: Air ticket sales trending upward
Last week marked the sixth in a row in which the transaction count increased on a year-over-year basis, according to ARC. The improvement has corresponded with reductions in the number of new Covid-19 cases in the U.S. as well as increases in vaccinations.
The total air ticket sales volume for last week among U.S. travel agencies was down 76.1% from the same week in 2019.
Volume figures have tracked worse than transaction tallies throughout the pandemic, reflecting the especially sharp dip in higher-spending business traffic, steeper drops in international flying than in domestic flying and lower air fares.