Fresno airfares highest among California's large airports

Fresno Yosemite International is the most expensive airport to fly from among the state's busiest airports.

That comes as no surprise to seasoned Valley travelers, who say high gas prices keep them from driving a couple of hours to other airports to make up the difference in airfares.

Airport representatives said the higher fares are matter of supply and demand -- a limited number of airlines with a limited number of flights to a limited number of cities.

A report issued Thursday by the U.S. Department of Transportation showed that average domestic round-trip airfares from Fresno rose 3.1 percent between the first quarters of 2011 and 2012, ranking FYI as having the highest ticket prices among California's busiest airports.

The average ticket from Fresno to cities within the U.S., including connecting flights, cost an average of $389 in the first quarter of 2012. That's $11 higher than the average at San Francisco International Airport. The national average was $373.

In every year except one since 2000, Fresno has had either the first- or second-most expensive airfares among California's busiest airports. Only in 2011 did the city's average airfare fall below those in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Rhonda Jorn, marketing director for FYI, said Fresno is handcuffed by a lack of airlines serving the city, as well as by a limited number of flights and seats provided by those airlines.

"The deal is capacity," Jorn said. "These other airports have more airlines. They have more low-cost carriers, more choices. ... We don't have 10 flights a day to Dallas, for example. We only have a couple."

Jorn said airport officials are constantly trying to attract new airlines to Fresno and to convince existing carriers to add more flights to serve more people. But, she added, that's a difficult chore when airlines are cutting back on service to smaller airports and focusing on major service hubs.

Fresno is served by six airlines. That's the same number as Burbank, where the average fare was $268, and two more than Long Beach, which boasted the lowest average fare at $210.

But those lower fares are likely skewed, Jorn said, by the presence of discount airlines flying to multiple destinations, such as JetBlue at Burbank and Long Beach, and Southwest at Burbank. The only low-fare carrier in Fresno, by contrast, is Allegiant Air, which carries passengers to Las Vegas and Honolulu.

"Are you going to spend money on gas to drive three hours just to save $20 or $30 on an airline ticket?" Jorn said. "You've got to consider gas, time and parking. We haven't raised our parking rates in years."

Travel agent Jan Odahl of Travel Express in Fresno said customers are carefully weighing their travel options, taking gas prices and airline ticket fares into consideration. And, she added, they're not afraid to drive a couple hundred miles to fly from another airport -- if the price is right.

"I think a big part of it is the competition," she said. "We're so close to San Jose, Oakland, San Francisco and Sacramento, where the low-fare carriers fly, so the competition (among airlines) is less here in Fresno."

Passengers at the airport Thursday said the report is not surprising.

Brenda Hamilton, who was traveling to Kansas City, said she used to fly regularly to the East Coast after she moved to Fresno 16 years ago and often drove to San Francisco and Los Angeles for airfares that were much cheaper than Fresno.

"But gas prices weren't as crazy then," Hamilton said. "Now, it's about the same once you figure $100 in gas and six or eight hours of total driving time."

Rich Westfall, who lives in Catheys Valley near Mariposa, was returning Thursday to the Valley from a business trip to Seattle. Westfall flies about twice a month and said the limited availability of flights to the Northwest is a problem for him.

"Depending on the cost and if I have the time, I'll drive to San Jose to catch a flight," he said, adding that he usually tacks on other activities in the Bay Area. "But it's a pain in the rear end."

Jorn said passengers should be smart about planning their trips by hunting down good fares well in advance of their trips rather than buying tickets only a few weeks ahead of time.

"The best message is, you've got to book early," she said. "You're going to get the best bang for your buck when you buy your ticket early."

Among the nation's 100 busiest airports, Cincinnati, Ohio, registered the highest average domestic fare in the first quarter of 2012, at $526.25. Atlantic City, N.J., had the lowest average fare at $156.57. Fresno was ranked 40th.

The fare averages are based on samples of passengers buying tickets to fly round-trip to and from destinations inside the U.S., including connecting flights. The fares include the total value of the ticket price charged by airlines as well as taxes and fees when the ticket is bought but do not include baggage fees or other add-on costs.

In Fresno, the domestic fares don't include international flights to and from Guadalajara, Mexico, by Aeromexico and Volaris. The first-quarter reporting period also does not cover Alaska Airlines' recently launched service between Fresno and San Diego, nor does it include Allegiant Air's new flights to and from Honolulu.

The reporter can be reached at (559) 441-6319, [email protected] or @tsheehan on Twitter.