Cheapflights.com Issues Annual Affordability Ranking of 101 U.S. Airports

BOSTON, MA--(Marketwired - Jul 23, 2015) - For the sixth consecutive year, Cheapflights.com, the online leader in finding and publishing travel deals, has compiled its U.S. Airport Affordability Index, a ranking of 101 of the most popular airports based on average airfares. Pulled from our extensive database of airfare searches, the report is calculated from the average airfare Cheapflights.com users found to a mix of the most popular domestic and international destinations in the month of June.

Cheapflights' 2015 Airport Affordability Index is an annual snapshot that helps travelers see how their local airports stack up. In addition, by looking at performance year over year, the report is great for trend spotting. This year's rankings reveal some major shifts in the air travel landscape. The two top ranked airports, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky and Atlanta, both jumped more than 70 places from their rankings last year. Only Dallas Love Field and Long Beach retained their positions in the top 10. And, with Orlando, Philadelphia, Chicago-O'Hare, La Guardia and Atlanta all in top spots, we are seeing the strongest performance by major airports in the report's history.

Many of the top-ranked airports have also recently seen added service and competition, especially from discount airlines. Cincinnati, once a Delta hub, added close to 80 flights to 11 new cities in 2014 largely through increased service from Frontier and Allegiant. Atlanta too is seeing an upswing in passenger seats by both Spirit and Frontier, particularly on a number of top routes. Chicago O'Hare, Orlando and Dallas Love Field all have price wars of varying degrees going on among both legacy airlines and low-cost carriers.

Even with all the changes in rankings, the value of alternative airports still rang through in many instances. Oakland, which came in at number 10, and San Jose, which ranked 11, are cases in point. In June, the average airfare from Oakland to Orlando was $290 and Oakland to Honolulu was $442 while flights from San Francisco, which ranked 52, averaged $369 to Orlando and $578 to Honolulu. And airfare from San Jose to London Heathrow was $1,283, on average, versus $1,338, on average, from San Francisco.

"This year's index seems turned on its head when you compare it to years past," said Melisse Hinkle, editor at Cheapflights.com. "With many airports jumping and dropping dramatically in their rankings, it's clearer than ever how fluid airfares can be and how important it is to do your homework when booking travel. And, with shifts in the competitive landscape brought about by discount carriers and changing airline strategies, there is more incentive than ever to shop around, be knowledgeable and act quickly when a deal presents itself."

Of the 101 ranked airports, below are the 10 with the lowest average round-trip airfares, including taxes, for travel to the most popular destinations:

Rank		Airport	Average Airfare	Ranking Last Year
1		Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, OH (CVG)	$199	77
2		Atlanta International, GA (ATL)	$231	73
3		Dallas Love Field, TX (DAL)	$251	4
4		La Guardia, NY (LGA)	$251	31
5		Chicago-O'Hare International, IL (ORD)	$265	65
6		Philadelphia International, PA (PHL)	$267	48
7		Long Beach (Daugherty Field), CA (LGB)	$267	2
8		Cleveland-Hopkins International, OH (CLE)	$278	66
9		Orlando International, FL (MCO)	$281	29
10		Metropolitan Oakland International, CA (OAK)	$282	12

On the flip side, our users found the highest average round-trip prices, including taxes, at these 10 airports:

Rank		Airport	Average Airfare	Ranking Last Year
92		Portland Intl Jetport, ME (PWM)	$537	13
93		Pensacola Regional, FL (PNS)	$540	53
94		McGhee Tyson, TN (TYS)	$552	91
95		El Paso International, TX (ELP)	$554	97
96		Anchorage International, AK (ANC)	$576	93
97		James M. Cox Dayton International, OH (DAY)	$587	40
98		Greenville-Spartanburg International, SC (GSP)	$592	62
99		Northwest Arkansas Regional, AR (XNA)	$615	92
100		Yeager, WV (CRW)	$742	N/A
101		Honolulu International, HI (HNL)	$794	101

Methodology 

Cheapflights.com compiled this ranking based on user searches on the site during the month of June 2015. The airports ranked were 101 of the most-searched-for departure points and the average airfares were calculated using the flight prices our users found to a common list of the most popular domestic destinations, including Las Vegas, Orlando, Honolulu, Atlanta, Denver, New York, San Juan and San Francisco, and international destinations, including Dublin, Paris, Los Cabos, Vancouver and London.

To see Cheapflights.com's full list of the 101 airports ranked on affordability, visit www.cheapflights.com/news/2015-airport-affordability-report.

About Cheapflights.com, part of the Momondo Group
Momondo Group is an online travel media and technology company that is driven by the belief that an open world is a better world. The group now serves travel search and inspiration to over 17.5 million visitors a month -- plus 8 million travel newsletter subscribers -- via its Cheapflights (www.cheapflights.com) and momondo (www.momondo.com) brands. Skygate began the sourcing of complex air-travel data in 1992, while Cheapflights pioneered the online comparison of flight deals for users in 1996 and momondo launched meta-search in the Nordic countries in 2006. The Group has offices in London, Copenhagen and Boston with a consumer base across more than 30 core international markets but users all over the world.

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