July 23, 2008

ATLANTA (AP) -- A government survey says average domestic
airfares rose 4.4 percent in the first quarter of 2008 compared to
the same period a year earlier. The analysis was based on a small
sample of itineraries and excluded some high-priced destinations.

The Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation
Statistics said its first-quarter numbers represented the largest
year-to-year increase in average domestic airfares since the second
quarter of 2006. Even so, it said average fares through the first
quarter remained 4.6 percent below the January-to-March high set in
2001.

It said the average domestic itinerary fare in the first quarter
of this year was $332.

Among the 100 largest U.S. airports, Boston saw the largest
year-to-year average fare increase by percentage in the first
quarter, while Atlantic City, N.J., saw the biggest average fare
decrease by percentage. Cincinnati's airport had the highest
average fares in the quarter.

The study showed fares average fares at Hartsfield-Jackson
airport in Atlanta fell by 6 percent.