I don’t know the answer to that question. However, the US Dept. of Transportation has published the average airfares for 100 airports based on one way fares. The study found fares have increased 4.0 percent. This is the purpose of the quarterly study, tracking the increase or decrease of airfares to calculate the Air Travel Price Index (ATPI).

However, the Anchorage Daily News focuses on one aspect from the report, Anchorage has the most expensive average airfare in the US and Hawaii has the cheapest. Are the airlines who serve Anchorage’s airport gouging Alaskans? Is the comparison of Anchorage to other airports across the nation based on ticket prices only a fair comparison? Let’s look.

I’m an urban Alaskan. In the 27 years I’ve lived here almost all of the flights I’ve taken out of Anchorage have been to destinations Outside. Very few flights have been in-state. A ticket purchased for a short flight to Kenai or Fairbanks is much cheaper than a ticket to Seattle or Chicago. It costs more to fly the 1300 miles to Seattle than it does 40 miles to Kenai (that’s a guess on air miles to Kenai). A study of average ticket prices without accounting for flight distance does not produce a valid comparison of what airports are more expensive. It does accurately show relative changes in prices.

Hawaii has the cheapest airports. That’s not hard to figure out why. The short island hops that leave every few minutes dominate the sampling of airfares in Hawaii. Alaska doesn’t have many short hops nor the population base to demand them and drive pricing down. When Alaskans fly they usually leave the state which requires a minimum 1300 mile flight to Seattle or beyond. That’s why Anchorage has the highest ticket prices: Alaskans have to fly the farthest to get where they are going.

Is it really more expensive to fly out of Anchorage? I can’t tell. There isn’t enough information given in the study. But be careful how newspapers use statistics to draw conclusions.

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