Sky Writer: Airfares dropping in Tulsa, still priciest in region

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics put out their quarterly airfare data Tuesday, showing that the average ticket originating in Tulsa. TUL still ranks no. 15 out of the 100 top airports for the highest average airfares. It’s actually kind of funny that Charlotte and New York are close to Tulsa, even though those are both hubs with hundreds of direct flights.

It’s no secret that getting a flight out of Tulsa isn’t always cheap, but it is getting better. You can probably give a lot of the credit to lower fuel prices in 2014 compared to the year earlier.

But the average fair nationwide actually went up 1 percent, while Tulsa’s ticket prices dropped 2.8 percent.

Allegiant’s service to Orlando-Sanford probably helps. That started in October 2013 and gives fares as cheap as $59 one way. Those are leisure travelers too, so they aren’t paying for a lot of expensive upgrades.

American Airlines’ merger with US Airways should help a bit too, especially with the addition of the Charlotte non-stop flight in July. But that twice-day round-tripper won’t show up on the federal data until they release their third quarter data, sometime around the beginning of 2015.

Flying out of OKC’s WillRogersWorldAirport dropped by just 90 cents per flight, still at around $411 (in your face Oklahoma City!). But Tulsa is still the priciest airport to fly out of in the region, at least compared to Wichita, Oklahoma City and Dallas.

Here’s a look at some prices in other cities during the first quarter. Northwest Arkansas doesn't make the list because its not a top 100 US Airport.

Most expensive airports

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics 1st Quarter Airfares