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Most Expensive Airports In The United States (PHOTOS)

Memphis

First Posted: 12/15/11 12:18 PM ET Updated: 12/15/11 12:35 PM ET

Cost has largely replaced distance as the measure of how hard it is to get around. Sure, Indianapolis is closer to Philadelphia than Chicago, but the price of airline tickets is unlikely to reflect that geography.

In order to better understand the domestic travel landscape, the Research and Innovative Technology Administration's Bureau of Transportation Statistics undertook a study to find which American airports are the most expensive to fly out of, as measured by ticket value, taxes and fees. The results are interesting and indicative of how smaller markets are often less served by the modern aviation industry than hubs -- though overcharged fliers may want to skip Newark-Liberty and head to Atlantic City instead.

The priciets, beginning with Cleveland's Hopkins Airport at number 10, are part of a club with high membership fees and no perks at all. Sorry C-Towners. At least Hopkins isn't one of the most dangerous airports or one of the busiest.

#9 Cleveland, Ohio
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Average domestic fare: $428.26

Description 1 A view of the terminal at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport . The upper level is ticketing and the lower level is ...
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Rana Bilal Ahmed
0 Fans
09:09 AM on 03/20/2012
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DDL13
290 Fans
01:55 PM on 12/16/2011
this article distorts the facts, most international flights depart from dulles, DCA as well but much much fewer, so the price would reflect higher due to the destinations. This is no way accurate, many carriers leave dulles and flights are alot less than their figures show.
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leseratte
0 Fans
01:50 PM on 12/16/2011
Why do you have two #6 airports listed? Does anyone on your staff edit what is to be posted?
Really surpried that Charlotte is not listed in this group!
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999donut
1 Fans
01:01 PM on 12/16/2011
To call Cincinnati a major hub this week is a joke. They used to be. 1/2 dozen non stop international destinations, non stops to just about everywhere including Hawaii. Today, you are lucky to make it to Memphis without a stop. So not only do they have some of the highest fares, they also offer 1/2 the service. It is killing the area biz prospects. Companies are moving. Time still is money, maybe even more so. We used to have to drive to Dayton, OH (50 miles) or Louisville or Lexington, KY (80 to 110 miles) to cut the fare in half to many destinations. Guess what, about 1/2 the time our non stop to Atlanta or Tampa originated Cincinnati.
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rwikert
27 Fans
11:13 AM on 12/16/2011
Interesting to see Cleveland, OH on this "Most Expensive" list. When I lived in the Pittsburgh, PA Area, people looking to reduce their flying cost, would drive to Cleveland because flights out of Cleveland were often 30%- 50% cheaper than flying out of Pittsburgh.
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jessica221
2 Fans
11:35 AM on 12/16/2011
They still are I drive to dulles b/c it is cheaper than pit.
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dhefu
95 Fans
10:20 AM on 12/16/2011
This article doesn't seem very useful to me. As part of a company relocation study, we compared fares between Tucson and IAH (Houston) to the most common destinations (Chicago, LAX, Detroit, LV, etc.) and IAH was much cheaper and most were direct non-stops. I think if there are one or two routes out of a specific airport that are very expensive, it could easily skew the data.
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pllc
156 Fans
10:00 AM on 12/16/2011
Dullles is ugh! Not only inconveniently designed where you need to ride transport buses to each concourse, it's located far out of the way from the city which can cost you a bundle if you take a taxi. You don't have a choice in most cases when you buy tickets on a dedicated airline in which you are accumulating mileage. Bigger the airport, cheaper the fares.
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TFlint
970 Fans
09:57 AM on 12/16/2011
Cincinnati's airport (CVG) is in Kentucky, a fairly long drive for many Cincinnatians. Point your car north and it's only an hour to Dayton where flights are far cheaper.
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catmagnet
Independent thinker
91 Fans
12:33 PM on 12/16/2011
You do notice that the top two airports (Cincinnati and Memphis) are the two Northwest/Delta hubs that got the shaft, right?

Not sure what the deal is with Cincinnati, but I'm hoping down in Memphis with the airTran/Southwest merger, fares will go down in 2012.
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tomprimo
4 Fans
09:40 AM on 12/16/2011
I recently had to fly from Piedmont area SC to Cleveland OH with 7 days notice. Cost was $995 out of Charlotte, cost was $445 out of Greenville. Took the exact same planes I would have for the $995 on the Charoltte to Cleveland leg in starting/ending at Greenville SC. Go figure! Bottom line is I think it all has to do with the available competition. Charlotte is US Air or American 90%, Cincinnati (#2) is 90% Delta (i've used Dayton instead before), All major carriers are guilty of this. Companies, consider providing incentives when your folks can drive a bit more and save you major money. Individuals, be smart, drive if needed for the best cost (or don't complain).
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catmagnet
Independent thinker
91 Fans
12:37 PM on 12/16/2011
I found that airfares are cheaper if you have a connecting flight than if you fly directly most of the time. When I was living in Hartford, and traveled to visit my parents, it was cheaper to do BDL-YOW than BDL-YUL, even though the Hartford - Montreal route was a direct flight.
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rsekeres
0 Fans
09:35 AM on 12/16/2011
CVG (Cincinnat­i) has a reputation for being a high priced airport. Dominated by Delta, competitio­n is less, as evidenced by the absence of AirTran or other significan­t low cost carriers. AirTran does serve Dayton (an hour north of Cincy), to which I can typically fly for about half the price, and usually do when traveling to that neck of the woods (CVG's loss).

I think it comes down to competitio­n and the lack of it hurts lower-tier markets like Cincinnati­. It comprises a major reason why I left Cincy to move to another major city with an internatio­nal airport with some of the lowest average fares in the nation.
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catmagnet
Independent thinker
91 Fans
12:40 PM on 12/16/2011
Down here at MEM, I'm praying for the airTran/Southwest merger to go through toute suite. We have the same problem that you guys have up in Cincinnati (Northwest originally screwed us, then Delta carried on), but at least we have airTran, which means we'll have Southwest soon, assuming they want to continue servicing MEM. ::fingers crossed::
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Gary H Mayer
48 Fans
08:52 AM on 12/16/2011
Dulles might have higher fares so the politicians can fly free and pass the cost on to the average passenger. Harrisburg and Madison are overwhelmed by nearby large airports (Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis). The others, I can't explain.
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jjs71
Political courage is not political suicide.
45 Fans
09:09 AM on 12/16/2011
Politicians fly out of Reagan Nat'l.
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DDL13
290 Fans
09:32 AM on 12/16/2011
you obviously don't know what you are talking about, when politicians fly for business purposes it is paid by the government, if they fly for personal reasons they pay. That is a fact. The gift ban was enacted for obvious reasons and includes airlines. Also politicans use Reagan national because of its proximity to DC, minutes away vs many miles away as Dulles is, unless of course its a non stop international flight then they have to use dulles. the key word "non stop" as DCA has very few non stop long distance flights.
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Doug I
24 Fans
07:26 AM on 12/16/2011
My experience of CINCINNATI (CVG) is the opposite: CHEAPER.
but then it may be the best option close to me.

I have sometimes found a cheaper flight, sometimes even cheaper DIRECT flight, to the New York / Connecticut area, from Cincinnati, than from Lex or Louisville.
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