September Demand Caps Off Record Third Quarter Sales and Passenger Trips
ARLINGTON, Va., Oct. 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Today, Airlines Reporting Corp. (ARC) released data showing U.S.-based travel agency air ticket sales totaled $8.7 billion in September 2025 — an 8% year-over-year increase and the highest monthly sales total for September recorded by ARC.*
Third-quarter air ticket sales and passenger trips reached $25.1 billion and 74.7 million, respectively. Both figures represent a 4% increase year over year and were record-high results for a third quarter.
Passenger trips issued through online travel agencies and leisure agencies in September increased 2% and 3%, respectively, year over year. Passenger trips issued through corporate travel agencies remained flat over the same period.
Results for September 2025 showed:
|
ARC Ticketing Metric |
Total |
Month-Over-Month Variance |
Year-Over-Year Variance |
|
Total Sales |
$8.7 billion |
+5 % |
+8 % |
|
Total Passenger Trips |
25.2 million |
+3 % |
+7 % |
|
U.S. Domestic Trips |
16.3 million |
+4 % |
+6 % |
|
International Trips |
8.9 million |
0 % |
+7 % |
|
Average Ticket Price |
$558 |
+5 % |
+2 % |
|
Average Economy Class Ticket Price** |
$501 |
+3 % |
+1 % |
|
Average Premium Class Ticket Price*** |
$1,368 |
+5 % |
+6 % |
“Strength in pricing and passenger demand helped ARC-accredited agencies close out the third quarter at record levels,” said Steve Solomon, chief commercial officer at ARC. “This trend underscores sustained traveler confidence as well as the expanding vacation travel window into the fall as the industry prepares for the busy holiday travel season.”
NDC transactions accounted for 19.9% of the total ARC-settled transactions in September 2025 — up from 18.6% in September 2024. In September 2025, a total of 1,130 travel agencies reported NDC transactions.
More detailed information is available on ARC’s sales statistics page.
About ARC:
ARC’s data platform is the intelligence behind air travel, connecting the industry ecosystem and powering commercial decisions for airlines and their partners. We manage the world’s most comprehensive airline ticketing dataset, comprised of over 24 billion passenger flights operated by more than 480 airlines in 235 countries since 2015. ARC’s trusted reporting and settlement services process over $99 billion annually in U.S.-based agency air sales. ARC leads industry collaboration between airlines, agencies, corporate buyers and other partners to enable a thriving air travel retailing ecosystem. For more information, visit arccorp.com.
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