(Ottawa) The price of a plane ticket fell by more than 14% on average in January compared to a year earlier, according to new data from Statistics Canada.
Airfares also fell nearly 24% between December and January, according to the most recent Consumer Price Index figures, as vacation demand gave way to stay-at-home orders in the month last.
However, the price of a ticket remained 10% higher than 2019 levels, reflecting the higher costs of aviation and slightly lower capacity in a post-pandemic world.
The year-over-year decline in prices for January follows a trend observed since April, where prices fell compared to the same months of the previous year.
December saw a rate drop of almost 10% year-over-year, while November saw a 17% drop from the previous year.
Duncan Dee, former chief operating officer of Air Canada, says the price decline reflects a stabilization of demand resulting from the financial pressures consumers continue to feel due to inflation and rising rates. interest.
“We saw this during the Christmas peak this year. It just wasn’t as busy as previous years,” he said, referring to pre-pandemic numbers.
Air traffic in December was 3.5% lower than the same month in 2019, ending a five-month period in which passenger numbers exceeded pre-crisis levels, according to Statistics Canada.
Domestic air traffic also fell 1% in December from a year earlier, marking the first 12-month monthly decline for this segment in 2023, again according to figures from the federal agency.
“Canadian consumers are likely feeling the overall impact of the cost of living. And one of the activities that they tend to reduce in this type of environment is air travel,” says Mr. Dee.
Competition also remains fierce among Canadian airlines, as smaller players grow, and WestJet and Air Canada battle low-cost carriers for routes to sun destinations and North American cities.