City Pairs
City Pair Definition
A city pair is the combination of an origin city (or airport) and a destination city (or airport) that defines a flight route. For example, SFO–JFK represents the city pair of San Francisco to New York. City pairs are the foundational unit for analyzing air travel demand, pricing, and routing.
Airlines, travel management companies, and corporate travel programs all use city pair data to understand where travelers are going, how often specific routes are flown, and what fares are available on those corridors.
How City Pairs Work in Corporate Travel
In a corporate travel program, city pairs reveal the most frequently traveled routes across the organization. A company might discover, for example, that SFO–LAX is its highest-volume city pair, accounting for hundreds of bookings per quarter. This insight unlocks several strategic opportunities:
- Airline negotiations – High-volume city pairs give companies leverage to negotiate discounted corporate fares or preferred routing with airlines.
- Spend analysis – Tracking average ticket cost per city pair helps identify routes where the company may be overpaying relative to market rates.
- Policy optimization – City pair data can inform advance-booking requirements or preferred-carrier rules for specific routes.
- Sustainability tracking – Emissions reporting relies on city pair distances to calculate the carbon footprint of each trip.
City Pairs vs. Airport Pairs
While the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, there is a subtle difference. A
Why City Pair Data Matters for Travel Managers
Travel managers rely on city pair analysis to make data-driven decisions about their programs. Key use cases include:
- Identifying consolidation opportunities by channeling volume to preferred carriers on top city pairs.
- Benchmarking fares against industry averages for the same routes.
- Forecasting travel budgets based on historical city pair volumes and seasonal pricing trends.
- Evaluating whether certain city pairs could be replaced by virtual meetings to reduce costs and emissions.
How Navan Uses City Pair Intelligence
Navan automatically surfaces city pair insights within its travel and expense platform. By aggregating booking data across the organization in real time, Navan helps travel managers see their top city pairs, track fare trends per route, and identify savings opportunities—without manual spreadsheet analysis.
With city pair visibility built directly into reporting dashboards, companies can proactively manage airline relationships, enforce route-level policies, and demonstrate ROI on their managed travel program.