Of the 100 busiest airports in the United States, Madison’s airport is the most expensive to fly out of.
A study conducted by the Department of Transportation found an average ticket price of $504.75 out of Dane County Regional Airport, toward the end of 2014. In comparison, Los Angeles International Airport averages $435, while Sanford, Florida averages just $99 per ticket.
While many students use the airport when flying to and from Madison, University of Wisconsin junior David Zeitlin, a Nashville, Tennessee native, said he is not surprised to learn just how steep the cost of a ticket is relative to other airports. He flies to Chicago instead.
“Ticket prices were always pretty expensive, which has been the main inhibitive factor for me,” he said. “I usually take a bus to Midway and fly out of there because of the price, so I’d only use the Madison airport if it was my only option to get somewhere with limited time.”
The comparatively high fares out of Madison’s regional airport are largely due to a mix of factors, including the presence of much larger airports nearby in Milwaukee and Chicago. The Madison airport is relatively small, and the high level of demand for tickets increases the airfares, Brent McHenry, airport director of marketing, said.
The top spot on the cost list “isn’t a great place to be at,” McHenry said.
“We’re not happy about it, but at the same time we understand the dynamics of the situation,” McHenry said.
It is not uncommon to see out-of-state students at the airport, with the greatest numbers seen during holiday and spring break travel, McHenry said.
For these students, higher fares aren’t a cause to forgo the convenience of an airport located about six miles from the middle of campus.
UW junior Cory Epprecht, a Cleveland, Ohio native, said he wasn’t bothered by the news and would continue flying through Madison, citing the comparative ease he felt in actually moving through security and onto his flight.
“My experience there has always been positive, and it might be a smaller airport, but it’s more convenient because it’s essentially right where I live,” Cory said. “It makes sense to drive to Milwaukee and fly from there, but the proximity of Madison and the fact that it’s just less taxing to get to and fly from makes it worth it for me.”
Even with the reportedly high fares, the number of passengers flying through the airport has risen steadily over the last few years, McHenry said.
“While other airports have reduced the number of flights and carriers they can offer, we’ve actually been able to expand,” he said. “That’s a pretty exciting thing.”
The Department of Transportation pricing statistic could use a more nuanced approach, McHenry said.
One-way fare is the industry standard for determining average rates, but the Department of Transportation study calculated average fares with a mix of one and two-way flights, McHenry said.
While the news about high fares might be discouraging, McHenry was optimistic about the parallel growth of the airport and the city.
“I think as Madison continues to grow as a destination, we’ll see our airlines start offering more,” he said. “More flights, more non-stop destinations, larger aircrafts — and that can change our pricing dynamic.”
