By Nathalie Voit
New data from Adobe Analytics shows that domestic flight bookings are down as soaring airfares prompt some consumers to rethink their travel plans.
Online bookings for domestic travel between June through August declined 2% in the first two weeks of April compared with bookings for summer travel in the last two weeks of March, Adobe said. Revenue also fell 1% through April 15 to settle at $3.4 billion in online spending for domestic flights.
After two years of global lockdowns and COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, consumer demand for air travel remains elevated. However, growth appears to be slowing in early April from its peak in March as airfare inflation drives overall online ticket sales down.
“Consumers are either waiting for fares to come down or reorienting their travel plans for now,” said Lead Analyst for Adobe Digital Insights Vivek Pandya on April 20, according to Bloomberg.
Pandya noted that the pullback in spending observed in the first 15 days of April could be due to the sizable spending reported in March, with some travelers having already booked their vacation plans. However, he said that higher airfares have certainly had a contractionary impact on overall bookings.
“We can’t say with high confidence that summer bookings will continue to scale at the pace we observed earlier in the year,” Pandya added.
Adobe earlier this month reported a 20% surge in airfare prices as demand for domestic flights retreated to pre-pandemic levels.
“Consumers have seen online prices for physical goods rise now for 22 consecutive months, per the Adobe Digital Price Index, and inflation is becoming more prominent for services as well,” Pandya said on April 12. “The unleash of pent-up demand has been a major driving factor, as the desire for air travel is coming back more aggressively than anticipated.”
