ARLINGTON: Airlines Reporting Corp. (ARC) released data showing that ARC-accredited travel agencies experienced a 69% month-over-month increase in net sales from April to May 2020, showing preliminary signs of air travel recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Year-over-year net sales were still down 102%, with the consolidated dollar value of tickets transacted by agencies last month totaling -$198 million, compared to $9.2 billion in May 2019.
Month over month, May 2020 results also show a 67% increase in number of passenger trips; and U.S. domestic trips and international trips up 85% and 30%, respectively.
Compared to 2019, the total number of passenger trips settled by ARC in May were down 87% YOY, from 27.417 million to 3.64 million U.S. domestic trips decreased 84% YOY to 2.7 million, while international trips numbered 925,564, a 91% decrease YOY. The average U.S. round-trip ticket price decreased from $511 in 2019 to $353 in May 2020.
Electronic Miscellaneous Document (EMD) sales showed a decrease YOY as well, down 81% to $1.435 million. EMD transaction volume experienced a slightly smaller decrease, down 76% YOY in April 2020, totaling 28,588.
As a leader in air travel intelligence and omnichannel retailing, ARC provides platforms, tools and insights that help the global travel community connect, grow and thrive. ARC enables the diverse retailing strategies of its customers by providing innovative technology, flexible settlement solutions and access to the world’s most comprehensive air transaction dataset. In 2019, ARC managed more than $97.4 billion in transactions between airlines and travel agencies, representing more than 302 million passenger trips.