Airfares were up 42.1% in September compared with the same month in 2021, the largest jump in year-over-year fares thus far this year, according to Consumer Price Index data released Oct. 12 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Prior to September, the largest year-over-year jump has been 37.8%; that was in May.
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The increase came as travel demand remained high. It was also impacted by the fact that far more business travelers were in the skies this September than last September.
On a month-over-month basis, fares remained flat in September, jumping a minuscule .1% from August. The increase was a somewhat larger .8% when adjusted for seasonality, which accounts for the fact that airline tickets are usually slightly more expensive in August than September.
September ended a stretch of three consecutive months in which airfare dropped on a seasonally adjusted basis following sharp increases during the spring.