SANTO DOMINGO. - Air transport prices increased by 16.3% in February of this year, according to the Producer Price Index for the Services Sector (IPP Services), an indicator that measures price variations in a basket of services from national production.
According to this indicator, prices in this activity, which impacts the cost of commercial flights and the movement of goods to and from the country, increased by 28.96 points in the last 12 months, going from 177.58 points in February 2023 to 206.54 points in February of this year.
The upward trend continues this year. This was the main segment of the services sector that saw a price increase in February 2024, with a rise of 10.33% compared to last January, when the indicator stood at 187.21 points.
On a year-on-year basis, air transport was the second economic activity that registered the largest increases in the last 12 months, only behind postal and courier activities, which were 18.50% higher than in February of last year.
- Air transport was followed by rental and leasing activities, which increased by 14.70% compared to 2023, according to a report by the National Statistics Office (ONE).
Travel agencies and tour operators are becoming cheaper
Unlike airlines, which faced higher costs to perform the same work, tour operators and travel agencies found cheaper prices.
Both these economic segments and their related activities registered an 11.80% decrease in prices in the last 12 months, going from 193.90 points in February 2023 to 171.02 points in February of this year; a drop of 22.80 points.
Indeed, this was the activity that registered the largest price drop during that period. It was followed by gambling and betting activities (-5.95%) and programming and broadcasting activities (-2.42%).
And it continues to decline: by February of this year, the activities of travel agencies and tour operators had fallen by 14.18% compared to last January, when the indicator stood at 199.27 points.
Source: Diario Libre
