OHIO AIRPORTS At $113.27, Youngstown-Warren has state’s 2nd-lowest average fare

By Steve Wartenberg

Columbus Dispatch

Not all airports are created equal, which is why the average airfare at Ohio’s airports ranges from $484.98 at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport to $102.42 at Rickenbacker Airport.

Several factors affect airport fares, such as the presence of low-fare airlines or, on the other end, a single dominant carrier with a large hub operation.

But in the end, the difference is as simple as Econ 101. And the trend lines haven’t been favoring travelers at Port Columbus recently.

“It comes down to supply and demand,” said Seth Kaplan, managing partner of Airline Weekly. “If you have a reasonably healthy economy,” which Columbus does, “and a healthy demand for air travel, and the airlines haven’t added countless new seats, the demand outstrips the supply and the cost will go up.”

The average airfare for Port Columbus flights was $411.42 in the fourth quarter, according to the Department of Transportation. That was a 4.1 percent jump from the previous fourth quarter.

Since 2000, the average fare at Port Columbus has gone up 31.4 percent, which is about twice the national average of 15.5 percent.

Unlike Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky and Cleveland Hopkins airports, where low-cost fliers such as Allegiant, Frontier and Spirit have helped to drop the overall average fare in recent years, there are no low-cost airlines flying from Port Columbus.

Instead, Allegiant flies from Rickenbacker, accounting for 50 of the airport’s 51 flights in March. Allegiant has a similarly dominant position at the Youngstown/Warren airport, which has the state’s second-lowest average fare at $113.27.

In the past, low-cost airlines JetBlue and SkyBus flew from Port Columbus, prompting competing carriers to cut ticket prices. They’re long gone, and former low-cost carrier Southwest’s ticket prices are now more in line with the other major carriers.

But there could be some good news for Port Columbus fliers.

In the second half of 2014, the number of seats on flights in and out of Port Columbus grew by a little less than 1 percent, Kaplan said, using Airline Weekly analysis of data from Diio Mi, an aviation-industry data company.

Despite recent increases, the average Port Columbus fare is still lower than at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky and Cleveland Hopkins airports, but it is above the national average of $392.66.