Bradley tix nix prix fixe; up 6 percent

In the first quarter of 2007, Bradley International Airport had the fifth-stiffest hike in domestic air fares among the nation”™s 100 largest airports.

Bradley ticket fares rose 6.4 percent from the year previous to $373 on average, the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) found.

The Windsor Locks airport had the third-highest increase on a BTS index that categorizes fares by identical routes and classes of service.

For the fiscal year ending June 30, 640,000 fewer passengers boarded planes at Bradley from the 7.2 million who did so in fiscal 2006. Bradley officials blame carriers”™ increasing use of small, regional jets at the airport.

Year over year, fares fell 0.6 percent at large airports nationally, with Pittsburgh International Airport registering the sharpest drop at 12.6 percent, followed by Maine”™s Portland International Jetport.

Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport had both the steepest increase at 14.7 percent, and the most expensive ticket in absolute terms at $531 on average.

Bradley”™s average fare of $373 was middle of the pack; Long Island Islip Macarthur Airport remains among the cheapest embarkation points in the nation, with an average fare of $288.

Westchester County Airport in White Plains, N.Y., does not rank among the 100 largest airports in the country, and so was not included in the study.