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Sometimes it seems that fares at Denver International Airport will climb as high as the planes that regularly depart from the facility.
But now is not one of those times.
New figures from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (a branch of the U.S. Treasury Department) reveals the best average fares at the twelve busiest airports in America as determined by the number of domestic passengers who took off from each during the third quarter of 2015 — the most recent period for which data is available.
And DIA, which bid farewell to the third-most travelers among U.S. airports over that span, finishes very, very well.
Count down the photo-illustrated stats from the top twelve below, complete with the current average fare across the system. Comparing that number to the one at DIA makes the latter look even better.
Number 12: Newark-Liberty
Average ticket price: $479
Third quarter 2015 number of originating passengers: 5,599,640 (11th among originating passengers)
Number 11: New York/JFK
Average ticket price: $431
Third quarter 2015 number of originating passengers: 6,703,530 (7th among originating passengers)
Number 10: San Francisco
Average ticket price: $424
Third quarter 2015 number of originating passengers: 7,257,970 (5th among originating passengers)
Number 9: Los Angeles
Average ticket price: $389
Third quarter 2015 number of originating passengers: 10,317,650 (1st among originating passengers)
Number 8: Atlanta
Average ticket price: $382
Third quarter 2015 number of originating passengers: 7,172,690 (6th among originating passengers)
Number 7: Boston
Average ticket price: $365
Third quarter 2015 number of originating passengers: 7,738,750 (4th among originating passengers)
Number 6: Dallas-Fort Worth
Average ticket price: $364
Third quarter 2015 number of originating passengers: 6,444,950 (9th among originating passengers)
Number 5: Seattle/Tacoma
Average ticket price: $361
Third quarter 2015 number of originating passengers: 6,519,040 (8th among originating passengers)
Number 4: New York/LaGuardia
Average ticket price: $357
Third quarter 2015 number of originating passengers: 6,275,020 (10th among originating passengers)
Number 3: Chicago/O'Hare
Average ticket price: $342
Third quarter 2015 number of originating passengers: 8,039,070 (2nd among originating passengers)
Number 2: Phoenix
Average ticket price: $342
Third quarter 2015 number of originating passengers: 5,451,590 (12th among originating passengers)
Number 1: Denver
Average ticket price: $324
Third quarter 2015 number of originating passengers: 7,840,200 (3rd among originating passengers)
Airport average ticket price: $380
Third quarter 2015 average number of originating passengers: 7,113,342
Note: Fares [for U.S. originating domestic passengers] are based on domestic itinerary fares. Itinerary fares consist of round-trip fares unless the customer does not purchase a return trip. In that case, the one-way fare is included. Fares are based on the total ticket value which consists of the price charged by the airlines plus any additional taxes and fees levied by an outside entity at the time of purchase. Fares include only the price paid at the time of the ticket purchase and do not include other fees paid at the airport or onboard the aircraft. Averages do not include frequent-flyer or “zero fares” or a few abnormally high reported fares.
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