Airfares for domestic flights are down at Philadelphia International Airport, but there’s no guarantee that international or domestic fares will still be down when summer hits, writes Joanne Drilling and Emma Dooling for Philadelphia Business Journal.

The airport is one of 20 nationwide that has seen the biggest drop in airfares in the last year.

A one-way domestic trip from PHL cost 12.25 percent less in the third quarter of 2023 than a year before. The national average saw overall fares decline by only 5 percent.

The domestic fare rate dropped in the summer of 2023 when international travel increased.

“There is still too much capacity in the biggest domestic leisure markets, so fares remain suppressed,” explained Brett Snyder, president of Cranky Flier LLC.

Airports with more low-cost carriers also allow more competition for the best fare rates.

Philadelphia Airport has low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines, which is increasing its presence there this summer.

Frontier is PHL’s second-largest carrier. This May, it plans to launch 12 new nonstop routes to destinations around the U.S.

To compete, the bigger carriers offer basic economy fares with streamlined flight options comparable to Spirit Airlines or Frontier.

Read more about domestic airfares and how international fares could be affected this summer in the Philadelphia Business Journal.