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_ News Releas Air Fare Study July 5, 198 Page 2 The c nsultant collected information from area travel agents on the number of ickets sold to Eugene passengers departing from Mahlon Sweet Airport an from Portland International Airport. He also studied the top ten ~ destinatio markets for the Eugene area and the average price paid for each ticket. Accor ing to the survey, the top ten destination markets of Eugene air travelers, ranked by use, are Denver, San Francisco, San Diego, Dallas/Fort Worth, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Phoenix, and Honolulu. Rober s found that many Eugene passengers who fly to these markets use Portland I ternational. For example, seven percent of the Eugene passengers flying to enver, 10.7 percent of those flying to San Francisco, 14.3 of those flying to alias/Fort Worth, and nearly 50 percent of those flying to New York and Chicag depart from Portland. More than 50 percent drive to Portland to nd pearl 90 ercent catch flig is to Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and Phoenix, a y p of those f ying to Honolulu use Portland International. Lower icket prices appear to be the primary factor in making the decision to fly fro Portland rather than from Mahlon Sweet. For example, passengers who traveled to Los Angeles from Eugene paid an average ticket price of $277, while far s from Portland averaged $109. Although some fares from Eugene were lower tha Portland's fares, survey results indicate that by driving to i Portland, passengers can often save between $30 and $245. Shel y said that a 1985 study showed that if fare differences were greater t an $40, Eugene travelers would drive to Portland; the difference for out-of-to n travelers was about $60. Shelby said the community loses not only the air fire, but the revenues from food, parking, beverage sales, and other concessions when travelers, particularly out-of-town travelers, leave the area.