Airline tickets from Dayton remain high l Find cheap airfare

Southwest Airlines’ departure from Dayton last year has had a prolonged effect on airfare prices and declining passenger traffic — making Dayton International Airport one of the most expensive to fly out of in Ohio, airport officials say.

Dayton’s average airfare stayed even around $400 for most of 2017, fluctuating a few dollars earlier in the year. The average fare has actually dropped compared to recent years at the airport, but it still isn’t enough to compete with airports in Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland and Louisville. Almost all of the other regional airports have seen stark drops in average fare, most likely from an increase in low-cost flights added in the markets.

“The results are kind of the height of the Southwest effect for us,” said Terry Slaybaugh, Dayton aviation director. “You can definitely see it in our numbers.”

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Slaybaugh said the expensive fares are partly due to Southwest’s departure from the airport in June. Southwest then added services at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport. While Dayton fights to keep average airfare and passenger traffic steady, other regional airports have seen huge drops in airfare prices.

Airfare prices way down in Cincinnati

Nationally, average airfare dropped to $335.83 in the third quarter last year compared to $355.91 during the same time in 2016. Overall, airfares at CVG dropped 46 percent in the last five years. CVG average fare of $301 decreased 19 percent compared to $371 in the third quarter of 2016. National average fares decreased only 4 percent. CVG’s percentage decrease was nearly five times better than national average.

Candace McGraw, chief executive officer of CVG, said the airport has been successful in adding new air carriers and destinations for increased competition, as well as working with air cargo partners to establish and grow their operations, “all of which grow the airport community and positively impact the local economy.”

“As our passenger traffic increases, and airline competition increases, airfares go down. CVG passengers are paying on average $250 less per ticket than they were four years ago,” McGraw said.

Prices also down in Columbus, Louisville

John Glenn Columbus International Airport’s average airfare is about $353, a decrease from $369 in the second quarter of 2017. Average airfare for Columbus was up at $385 at the start of last year. Louisville, which had higher airfare than Dayton last quarter, saw a decrease to $395. In the second quarter of 2017, average airfare for Louisville was $433.

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Jay Ratliff, an aviation expert from the area, told this news organization in a previous interview that he expects to see even more airliners pull out of smaller airports in favor of large markets in the coming years. When airlines start to retract services, they are increasingly looking at what markets can increase their revenue.

“It’s the smaller airports that suffer,” Ratliff said.

What can Dayton do?

Dayton airport officials have made several moves to lure airlines and passengers back to the airport, and Slaybaugh said it's working. Earlier this month, United Airlines announced it will add a nonstop, daily flight to Houston from Dayton starting in early June. The air carrier will also add another flight to Chicago, a city it already serves from Dayton. The new route and added flights are a clear sign that United is invested in Dayton, city officials said.

Last year brought a slew of changes for the Dayton airport — from fluctuating passenger traffic to new, discount flight destinations and a change in air carriers. Along with the new flights, Slaybaugh said he hopes to see low-cost carrier Allegiant Air continue to grow at the Dayton airport.

“Allegiant pulls down our average fare by about $10 or 5 percent. It does have an impact. Hopefully, as we add Allegiant capacity in the marketplace, it’ll kind of continue to happen,” Slaybaugh said.

The airport is also spending millions of dollars for its terminal renovations. The next phase of the airport’s terminal modernization project began earlier this month, focusing on the airline ticketing end of the terminal and the outside of the parking garage across from baggage claim. The portion of the project is expected to finish up in August.

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BY THE NUMBERS

Dayton Average Fare: $400.63

Columbus Average Fare: $369.14

Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Average Fare: $369.14

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation

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