US airline bookings fell again in May, fares 30% higher than in 2019

According to an Adobe report released on Tuesday, the number of bookings with U.S. airlines fell 2.3 percent in May from a month earlier, the second monthly drop this year, while fares rose beyond 2019.

Last month, consumers spent $ 8.3 billion on domestic tickets, up 6.2% from April.

This year, consumers have spent more than $ 37 billion on domestic flights, nearly twice as much as they spent in the first five months of last year, when Covid-19 vaccines only became widely available.

“Although some consumers have managed to withstand higher fares, especially for those who postponed travel plans during the pandemic, the drop in bookings shows that some are rethinking their appetite to get on a plane,” – said Vivek Panda, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights.

Ticket prices have risen due to high fuel prices, labor shortages and hot demand for travel after two years of the Covid pandemic, which has become one of the most dramatic examples of rising inflation this year.

Reservations have been largely volatile, although it is unclear whether demand will remain after the peak of the spring-summer travel season, when airlines make up the bulk of their annual revenue.

“We have not yet seen any cracks in airline reservations, and investors remain concerned about a possible slowdown after the peak of summer travel,” Bank of America analyst Andrew Didor wrote on Monday.

The airlines welcomed the Biden administration’s decision last week to lift the requirement to test on Covid-19 for foreign travelers. Didora said the change could help increase international bookings.

United Airlines on Monday said international travel searches rose 7% 72 hours after the White House announced a waiver of international testing requirements, noting that “most searches from U.S. travelers were for upcoming trips this summer to destinations in Europe, Mexico and the Caribbean. “