Weekend effect in airfare pricing

Internet traffic during weekends is lighter than at weekdays, allowing airlines to adopt a distinctive pricing policy during the weekend. By analyzing the daily airfares for 1000 US domestic routes, this study tests whether a weekend effect exists in the level and dispersion of airfares. It finds a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Journal of air transport management Vol. 16; no. 1; pp. 48 - 50
Main Authors:	Mantin, Benny, Koo, Bonwoo
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Elsevier Ltd 2010
Subjects:	Airline industry Daily airfare Internet Price dispersion Price dispersion Internet Daily airfare Airline industry
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	Internet traffic during weekends is lighter than at weekdays, allowing airlines to adopt a distinctive pricing policy during the weekend. By analyzing the daily airfares for 1000 US domestic routes, this study tests whether a weekend effect exists in the level and dispersion of airfares. It finds a strong weekend effect for airfare dispersion, but not for price level. This suggests that different arrival timing of online consumers during the weekdays motivate airlines to adopt a distinctive pricing mechanism during weekends, by offering occasional discounts while maintaining the same fare level on average.
ISSN:	0969-6997 1873-2089
DOI:	10.1016/j.jairtraman.2009.07.002