Combined effects of load Factors and booking time on fares: Insights from the yield management of a low-cost airline

Based on two strands of theoretical research, this paper provides new evidence on how fares are jointly affected by in-flight seat availability and purchasing date. As the capacity-based theories predict, it emerges that fares monotonically and substantially increase with flight occupancy. After controlling for capacity utilization, our analysis also supports time-based theories, indicating a U-shaped temporal profile over a two-month booking period, as well as a sharp increase in fares in the two weeks prior to departure.