Airlines Reporting Corp. (ARC) said the consolidated dollar value of airline tickets sold by US-based travel agencies decreased 3.4 percent in the first quarter of 2016, compared to 2015, totaling USD23.3 billion vs. USD24.1 billion.
March 2016 ticket sales were down 4.5 percent to USD8.3 billion against the same month last year. Ticket transactions increased 4.5 percent to 43.2 million in 2016 vs. 2015, pointing to the overall effect of lower airfares.
Electronic Miscellaneous Document (EMD) sales comprised USD8.3 million of the year-to-date sales vs. USD3.1 million in 2015, and USD2.7 million of the March 2016 sales, compared to USD1 million in March 2015. EMD transactions increased to 106,792 so far in 2016 vs. 23,745 in 2015.
ARC powers the US-based travel industry with premier business solutions, travel agency accreditation services, process and financial management tools, and powerful data analytics. In 2015, ARC settled USD88.3 billion worth of carrier ticket transactions for more than 9,400 travel agencies with 13,000 points of sale. By providing world-class business services and products, ARC enables participating agencies and over 200 carriers to focus on what´s important–increasing their revenue. Established in 1984, ARC is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia.
