ARC and Expedia Release 2017 Annual Global Air Travel Outlook

ARLINGTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC) in partnership with Expedia, Inc. EXPE, today released a comprehensive study of worldwide air travel trends: New Heights for Air Travel: Understanding the Realities of Dropping Ticket Prices and Surging Capacity. Expedia and ARC together conducted an original analysis of hundreds of millions of airline tickets to spot trends that can be used to book air travel with intelligence in 2017.

ARC contributed detailed insight and ticket information to the study garnered from its data repository housing almost 12.5 billion passenger flights. Some of the revelations this fourth study from ARC and Expedia included:

• Economy class average ticket prices are generally falling worldwide to their lowest point since 2013.
• Travel between these regions saw the biggest price drop: South America to Southeast Asia, South America to Southern Europe and China to Southern Europe.
• Out of 500 of the top destination airports, Jose Marti International Airport in Havana, Cuba, represents the greatest percentage change (up 53 percent) in arriving travellers on commercial flights from 2015 to 2016.
• Weekends are when the least expensive tickets are booked, while Fridays are when the most expensive tickets are purchased. For travel with origins and destinations within the United States, Sunday is when the lowest ticket prices are booked; an average of 11 percent lower compared to Friday.
• Purchasing air tickets in the U.S. at least 21 days in advance can potentially save about 34 percent to Europe and 17 percent domestically.

The complete ARC-Expedia study is available free at http://bit.ly/2gJc1tP.

Chuck Thackston, ARC's managing director of enterprise information, commented: "Overall ticket prices continue their multi-year decline and we see nothing in the near-term data to suggest a change in this trend, especially with the increase in airline seat capacity. As a company that has visibility into what travelers are actually buying, and the ability to apply sophisticated algorithms to make that information valuable and useful, ARC is delighted once again to partner with Expedia for this study. And what all the data show is no matter how you look at it, it's a great time to fly."

"For today's traveler, this confluence of circumstances – more planes, lower prices, more destinations – is exceptional," said Greg Schulze, senior vice president, Expedia commercial strategy and services. "It means that the barriers to booking a dream trip are lowered. It also means that everyday travel – flights to see the family, work trips – are likely to be easier to book at a lower price. Expedia and ARC enjoy access to a wealth of data. Together, we are showing travelers that the travel possibilities for 2017 are almost limitless."

About ARC:

The Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC) is the premier driver of air travel intelligence and commerce in the travel industry with leading business solutions, travel agency accreditation services, process and financial management tools and high-quality data. In 2015, ARC settled $88.3 billion worth of carrier ticket transactions for more than 9,400 travel agencies with 13,000 points of sale. Established in 1984, ARC is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, with offices in Louisville, Kentucky, Tampa, Florida and San Juan, Puerto Rico. For more information, please visit www.arccorp.com and www.twitter.com/arctalk.

About Expedia, Inc.

Expedia, Inc. is the world's largest online travel company, with an extensive brand portfolio that includes leading online travel brands, such as:

• Expedia.com®, a leading full service online travel company with localized sites in 33 countries
• Hotels.com®, a preeminent global lodging expert operating in more than 65 countries and 35 languages with its award winning Hotels.com® Rewards loyalty program
• Orbitz Worldwide, including leading U.S. travel websites Orbitz.com and CheapTickets.com, as well as ebookers, a full service travel brand with websites in seven European countries
• Expedia® Affiliate Network (EAN), a global B2B brand that powers the hotel business of leading airlines, top consumer brands, online travel agencies and thousands of other partners through its API and template solutions
• trivago®, a leading online hotel search with sites in 55 countries worldwide
• HomeAway®, a global online marketplace for the vacation rental industry, which also includes the VRBO, VacationRentals.comand BedandBreakfast.com brands, among others
• Egencia®, a leading corporate travel management company
• Travelocity®, a leading online travel brand in the U.S. and Canada delivering customer service when and where our customers need it with the Customer 1st Guarantee
• Hotwire®, inspiring spontaneous travel through Hot Rate® deals
• Expedia® Media Solutions, the advertising sales division of Expedia, Inc. that builds media partnerships and enables brand advertisers to target a highly-qualified audience of travel consumers
• Wotif Group, a leading portfolio of travel brands including Wotif.com®, Wotif.co.nz, lastminute.com.au®, lastminute.co.nz and travel.com.au®
• Classic Vacations®, a top luxury travel specialist
• CarRentals.com^™, a premier online car rental booking company with localized sites in 13 countries
• Expedia Local Expert®, a provider of online and in-market concierge services, activities, experiences and ground transportation in over a thousand destinations worldwide
• Venere.com™, an online hotel reservation specialist in Europe
• Expedia® CruiseShipCenters®, a provider of exceptional value and expert advice for travelers booking cruises and vacations through its network of over 225 retail travel agency franchises across North America

For corporate and industry news and views, visit us at www.expediainc.com or follow us on Twitter @expediainc.

©2016 Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC). All rights reserved.

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