Airline ticket sales up 20% in two months

Sales of airline tickets in the first two months of this year through authorised travel agencies have risen nearly 20% compared with the same time last year, which is much more than expected. If the pace maintains, the market of airline ticket sales through travel agencies (ticketing) might end the year really close to the 200 million euro threshold. In January and February together the travel agencies sold plane tickets worth over 23.6 million euros, 18%-20% more than in the first two months of 2003, according to the statistics compiled by IATA Romania, the institution that monitors civil air flights. “Our growth forecasts for 2004 were 10% in euros, but it looks like this has been left far behind already. The main reason for growth is the heavier business traffic,” says Denisa Sanda Maria, manager of IATA’s Romanian office. On the other hand, starting November 1, 2003 all civil flights underwent a shift in the benchmark currency from dollars to euros, which led to an implicit rise in ticket prices. ZF