Air travel to increase for Thanksgiving holiday

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Air travel for the Thanksgiving holiday is expected to increase slightly over last year in response to a stronger economy, an airline trade group predicted.

The Air Transport Assn. of America, the industry trade group for the nation’s largest airlines, predicted that the number of air travelers would increase by 3.5% over last year, to 24 million people, from Nov. 19 to Nov. 30.

‘It is reassuring to see travel levels rebounding, with the stronger economy,’ said association president James C. May. ‘While modest, the recovery is particularly encouraging given the deep hole that this industry was in a year ago.’

The forecast for holiday travel continues the trend of increasing demand and higher fares for the airline industry, which reported recently that August marked the eighth straight month of revenue growth over the same period in 2009.

The Automobile Club of Southern California won’t release its holiday travel forecast until next week but a spokeswoman said the report is also expected to predict an increase in travel among Southern Californians for the holiday season.

-- Hugo Martin