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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The cost for airline tickets out of Salt Lake City is on the rise.
Ticket prices shot up the during the first three months of this year. The increase was the third-highest of 100 airports monitored by the U.S. Transportation Department.
An average round-trip fare cost $366 this time last year. Now that average is $403.70 -- an increase of more than 10 percent.
Meanwhile the transportation department reports that the average fare at all other airports tracked was falling by 0.6 percentage point.
Some blame Salt Lake's numbers on the dominance of Delta Airlines at the airport. The airport is a major hub for Delta, which recently emerged from bankruptcy.
A Delta spokesman says the carrier trimmed the number of airplane seats in Salt Lake by flying smaller aircraft. But he says it also has added more than 30 new nonstop destinations, which are a hit with travelers.
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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
