Air ticket sales by U.S. travel agencies were flat in May, as well as for the first five months of 2013, compared with the same periods in 2012, according to the Airlines Reporting Corp. (ARC). The monthly report showed that the consolidated dollar value of airline tickets sold by U.S. agents, which includes all fares, taxes and fees, dropped by 0.58 percent year-over-year for the first five months of 2013 compared to the same period last year, totaling $39 billion versus $39.3 billion in 2012. Sales for May 2013 were down by 0.27 percent to 8.1 billion compared with $8.2 billion in May 2012.

Total fare sales (domestic and international) in May were $6.56 billion, a 1.45 percent drop from May 2012. Year-to-date, total fares were $31.22 billion, a 1.82 percent decrease from the same period last year. Domestic fares in May were $3.3 billion a 3.29 percent drop from May 2012. Year-to-date, domestic fares in May were $16.05 billion, a 3.53 percent drop from January through May 2012. Internationally, fare sales in May were $3.25 billion, a 0.49 percent increase over May 2012. Year-to-date international fare sales were $15.16 billion, a 0.06 percent increase over the same period last year.

Airline fees in May (not including exchange and refund fees) totaled $664.73 million, whopping 9.1 percent increase over May 2012, according to the report. Year to date through May, airline fees totaled $3.22 billion, a 9.23 percent increase over the same period last year. Taxes and non-airline fees in May totaled $819.98 million, a 0.87 percent increase over May 2012. Through May 2013, taxes and non-airline fee totaled $4.07 billion, a 0.73 percent increase over the same period last year. Total taxes and fees in May 2012 came to $1.48 billion, a 4.4 percent increase over May 2012. Through May 2013, total taxes and fees were $7.29 billion, a 4.32 percent increase over the first five months of 2013. Total refund and exchange fees in May were $110.9 million, a 12.15 percent increase over May 2012. Through May 2013, refund and exchange fees were $516 million, a 10.11 percent increase over the same period last year.

The number of ticket transactions for the first five months of 2013 also remained flat at 64.2 million, a decrease of 0.67 from the same period in 2012. For the month of May, the number of ticket transactions was 12.8 million, a 0.9 percent drop from May 2012. Domestically, the total number of transactions in the first five months of 2013 totaled 44.7 million, a 1.47 percent decrease from the same period last year. In May, the number of domestic transactions was 8.9 million, a 2.05 percent drop from May 2012. Internationally, the number of transaction through May 2013 was 19.4 million, a 1.2 percent increase over the same period in 2012. In May, the number of international transactions was 3.9 million, a 1.79 percent increase over May 2012. As of May 2013, total retail locations stood at 13,345 with average daily sales at $17,157.