Cheapflights.com Releases Its 3rd Annual Airport Affordability Report

BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - Jul 17, 2012) - Pulling from its deep database of airfare searches, Cheapflights.com, the online leader in finding and publishing travel deals, has ranked the 101 most popular US airports based on their airfare affordability. The 2012 Airport Affordability Index is the third edition of an annual survey measuring the actual airfares users found when searching for deals to the most popular domestic and international destinations during the month of June.

The 2012 Airport Affordability Index reflects a few key trends. The entire top 10 comprises alternative and/or small market airports, which should serve as a reminder for fliers to cast a wide net on both ends of a journey when researching flight prices. You might find, as our users did, that the average airfare to Honolulu is $150 less from Oakland than San Francisco, or that a flight from Fresno to Paris averages $125 less than it does out of San Francisco.

This year, we added a column to show how rankings have changed since last year. While there is only minor movement in rankings at the very top and bottom of the list, airports like Manchester, NH, and Albany International, NY, jumped close to 40 spots while Dallas Love Field and Kansas City International dropped more than 50 places in the ranking. Just as there were some jumps in rankings, there were some swings in average airfares. The impression might be that there is an overall increase in flight prices, but a deeper dive shows that, while airfares are up on some routes, they are down on others compared to 2011's numbers. The takeaway is that airfares are very local and fluctuate regularly.

"Each year our Airport Affordability Index serves as a reminder that travelers have options and that saving money can be as simple as driving an hour or two at one end of a flight or the other," said Lauren Sullivan, editor at Cheapflights.com. "As always, we view this report as a baseline for people looking to see how their favorite airports stack up and as a reminder for them to do their homework, compare options and act quickly when they find a deal."

Of the 101 most-searched airports, below are the top 10 with the lowest average roundtrip airfare, including taxes, for travel to the most popular destinations:

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

Methodology
Cheapflights.com compiled this ranking based on user searches during the month of June 2012. The airports ranked were the 101 most-searched airports and the average airfares were calculated using the flight prices our users found to the most popular domestic destinations, including Las Vegas, Orlando, Honolulu, Atlanta, Denver, New York and San Francisco, and international destinations, including Rome, Paris, Cancun, Manila, Toronto and London.

To see Cheapflights.com's full list of the 101 airports ranked on affordability, visit http://www.cheapflights.com/promos/101-airports-ranked-on-affordability-2012/.

About Cheapflights Media
Cheapflights Media is an international media network helping over 11 million visitors a month find top travel deals. Our Cheapflights brand was launched in 1996 and pioneered the online comparison of flight deals for users. Today, users compare a wide range of deals from hundreds of partners including online travel agents, consolidators and airlines to find the very best flight deals. With a mission to be the starting point for travel, Cheapflights works to deliver the industry's best airfare bargains, expert tips and inspiration. There are currently Cheapflights sites in the U.K., U.S., Canada, Germany, Australia & New Zealand, France, Italy and Spain. For more information, visit www.cheapflights.com. Our newest brand, Momondo, is a leading travel search engine for finding comprehensive worldwide pricing and availability on airfares. Winner of several awards, the site is ideal for users on specific travel schedules. For more information, visit momondo.com.