Average ticket prices at Bradley International Airport soared 13 percent in the first quarter of 2010, giving the Windsor Locks-based airport the highest prices in all of New England and New York.
That’s a sharp change over the last 10 years when Bradley was a low-cost alternative to the region’s major airports. Bradley flights have gone from being 16 percent cheaper than flights out of Logan Airport in Boston and JFK and LaGuardia airports in New York to being 12.4 percent more expensive, according to data from the U.S. Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
That means business and leisure travelers now pay a premium to fly out of Bradley. And it could be a contributing factor in Bradley’s eroding passenger count, although Bradley officials discount the importance of the study.
The average airfare at Bradley Airport increased to $372.89 in the first quarter, up from $331.10 in the year-ago period, according to the DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics report.
The price increases at Bradley were the ninth largest in the country, higher than nearby airports in New York, Boston, Newark, and Burlington, Vermont.
According to the report, Bradley has the 18th highest average rates of any airport in the country, and is $45 more expensive than the average U.S. flight.
Nationally, average domestic airfares in the first quarter rose 4.7 percent from a year ago.
Airport officials said the price increases are being spurred by rising fuel and operating costs among carriers. If the fares continue to go up, however, it could negatively impact the airport’s passenger count, which has already been on the decline in recent years.
Through June of 2010, Bradley’s passenger count stood at 2.6 million, a 5 percent decrease from the same time period last year.
“The fares are going up everywhere,” said Luis Perez, Bradley’s new director of marketing and route development.
Although Perez said he wasn’t surprised by the report’s findings, he did question the scope of the data, adding that its parameters appear to be limited and don’t reflect the overall fare scenario at Bradley.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the average fares are based on domestic itinerary fares, round-trip or one-way for which no return is purchased.
Fares are based on the total ticket value, including the price charged by the airlines plus any additional taxes and fees levied by an outside entity.
Other fees, such as baggage fees, are not included in the fares.
Perez said one-way segments are the most expensive portion of a ticket in any route, and that Bradley offers other benefits that make flying out of the airport highly competitive with its neighbors, and may even reduce the overall cost of travel.
For example, he said driving and parking is easy and hassle-free at Bradley, while short-and-long-term parking rates remain reasonable compared to other cities.
“It’s surprising to me that the report is narrow in its parameters,” Perez said. “I don’t think it reflects the competitive realities of Bradley Airport.”
Generally speaking, Perez said Bradley enjoys “quite a bit,” of low fare carriers, including Southwest Airlines, which help to keep prices in check.
More competition is also on the way.
Frontier Airlines, for example, recently announced the start of twice daily nonstop flights between Bradley and its hub at Milwaukee’s General Mitchell International Airport beginning in September. That will be the first regular Connecticut flight to Wisconsin and one of the few to the Midwest.
Another discount airliner — JetBlue Airways — will begin offering nonstop flights from Bradley to Florida in November.
Delta Air Lines recently announced it will add new destinations to Washington D.C. and Las Vegas, while American Airlines plans to add frequencies to Miami.
“We are trying to bring more competition and airlines to the airport,” Perez said.
Carrier market shares at Bradley have been relatively stable over the past three years, with Delta owning 23 percent of the market, followed by Southwest with 21 percent, and Northwest, United, and U.S. Air at 10 percent each, according to Fitch ratings company.
Frontier and JetBlue will be the 13th and 14th airlines to fly out of the Windsor Locks regional airport that serves Connecticut, southern Massachusetts, and western New York.
Regardless of future competition, one thing that is certain is that airline prices at Bradley and around the country, along with other fees, are on the rise following a tumultuous two-year run for the industry.
David Castelveter, a spokesman for the Air Transport Association, said the price increases reflect a need for airlines to offset rising costs and maintain future profitability.
“For airlines to sustain profitability, continue to serve the communities they serve today, and invest capital they need to bring in more revenue,” he said.
Castelveter said airlines are coming off a brutal decade that led to $58 billion in cumulative losses, spurred by high fuel costs, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and a recession that has cut deeply into business and leisure travel.
He said airline costs and inflation have gone up double digits, while prices have languished over the last year. The average cost to fly a mile was 11.87 cents in 2009, a dramatic fall from the 13.73 cents average in 2008.
The current average airfare is only about $1 more than it was in 2000, before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Castelveter noted.
“If costs are going up faster than revenue in-take, something must be done about it,” he said. “By increasing airfares moderately over 2000 levels carriers are trying to return to sustained profitability.”
The nine largest U.S. airline carriers posted a collective loss of $942 million in the first quarter of 2010, but returned to profitability in a big way in the second quarter, with profits skyrocketing to $1.86 billion, according to AirlineFinancials.com.
Besides increasing ticket prices, airlines are growing profits with new fees like charging consumers for their baggage.
Perez, of Bradley Airport, said he understands that airlines are experiencing higher costs, but that it’s also important to find a balance between decent, affordable fares, and fares that will allow airlines to continue operate efficiently.
Perez said he believes that no airport, including Bradley, has that proper balance right now.
