ARC, the financial settlement link between airlines and travel sellers, reported that the consolidated dollar value of airline tickets sold by U.S.-based travel agencies was up 6.1 percent in 2011 compared to 2010, and up 24.8 percent compared to 2009, while passenger segments fell 2.9 percent. Ticket sales in 2011 totaled a record $82.1 billion, compared to $77.4 billion in 2010, and $65.8 billion in 2009.

Passenger segments in 2011 fell 2.9 percent -- 370.1 million segments, compared to 381.1 million in 2010 -- while reflecting a 2.9 percent increase over 2009. Ticket transactions in 2011 were down somewhat, at 2.09 percent below 2010 levels, while 5.1 percent above 2009.

For December 2011, the consolidated dollar value of airline tickets sold by U.S.-based travel agencies increased 3.9 percentcompared to December 2010, and 12.3 percent over the same period in 2009. Total December 2011 ticket sales were $4.9 billion, compared to $4.7 billion in 2010, and $4.4 billion in 2009.

December 2011 passenger segments fell 4.6 percent -- 28.1 million segments, compared to 29.5 million in December 2010 -- while reflecting a 2.2 percent decrease over the same period in 2009. Ticket transactions for December 2011 were down 4.5 percent compared to the same period in 2010, while 1.7 percent below the same period in 2009.

December sales were out of 14,052 retail locations compared to 14,136 in November.