Ouch! Salt Lake airfares soar

Flying out of Salt Lake City International Airport is getting more and more expensive.

In fact, over the past 10 years Utah's capital has led the Intermountain West in the rate of its airfare increases, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

Comparing the second quarter of 1995 to the second quarter of 2004, the BTS found that commercial airfares in Salt Lake City increased 16.9 percent over the decade. Even tourist mecca Las Vegas saw smaller increases — 16.1 percent during the same period.

Salt Lake City Department of Airports executive director Tim Campbell said that while the city's fares may have increased, they began at a fairly low point so they still remain a good bargain for fliers.

"Generally speaking, Salt Lake fares have been reasonably low," he said. "We still may be well below those other airports."

All told, Salt Lake City had the 17th-highest percentage increase out of 85 major airports surveyed by the BTS. If only the lower 48 states are counted, Utah's capital saw the 11th-highest increases in the nation over the decade.

Many cities in the Intermountain West, defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, saw far smaller increases. In Phoenix, for instance, fares increased only 6 percent in 10 years. Boise witnessed a meager 2.9 percent increase, while Denver fliers actually saw fares decrease by 4.2 percent.

The BTS data was compiled as part of the Air Travel Price Index. The ATPI was initiated in 1995 and measures air price fluctuations using 1995 as a base line. This year is the first year that the ATPI has had 10 years worth of data.

A separate report by the BTS blamed Salt Lake City's healthy hikes on the fact that Delta Air Lines operates a hub in Utah's capital. A spokesman for Delta did not return a phone call and e-mail seeking comment on why prices are growing in Salt Lake City.

The report compared price increases in Salt Lake, Cincinnati and Cleveland. All three cities are hubs, defined as having over 60 percent of their overall traffic come from one major airline. Salt Lake and Cincinnati are hubs for Delta, while Cleveland is a Continental Airlines hub.

"It appears that, minus the strong presence of a low-cost carrier, the dominant carriers in both Salt Lake City and Cleveland have remained strong enough to sustain higher fares," the report concluded.