City Pairs

What is a City Pair?

A city pair is the combination of an origin and a destination on a flight itinerary, typically represented by two IATA airport codes or city codes. The pair SFO–JFK, for example, represents all flights between San Francisco and New York, regardless of whether the journey is nonstop, direct with a stop, or a connecting itinerary.

City pair codes can reference individual airports or entire metropolitan areas. The pair NYC–LON covers flights departing from any New York-area airport (JFK, LGA, EWR) and arriving at any London airport (LHR, LGW, STN, LTN, LCY). This distinction matters for business travel reporting because metro-level grouping gives a clearer picture of demand between regions than individual airport counts.

Airlines, Global Distribution Systems, and travel management companies all organize their fare and scheduling data around city pairs. The concept is directional: SFO–JFK and JFK–SFO are typically treated as separate markets for pricing purposes, though the GSA City Pair Program lists fares as one-way prices valid in either direction.

How Do Travel Managers Use City Pair Data?

City pair analysis is the starting point for most corporate air program decisions. Travel managers extract booking records, group them by origin-destination, and rank routes by volume, spend, or both. This data drives four core activities.

Airline negotiations. A company flying 200+ segments annually on a single city pair has concrete grounds to negotiate a corporate discount with carriers serving that route. The negotiation centers on volume commitment in exchange for a percentage off published fares or a fixed rate below the advance purchase excursion price.

Spend benchmarking. Comparing the average fare paid on a city pair against market rates reveals whether the travel program is overpaying. A company paying $520 average on SFO–JFK when the market median is $410 has a clear optimization target.

Policy enforcement. City pair data informs route-specific rules. A travel manager might require 14-day advance booking on high-volume city pairs where early purchase saves 25–40%, while allowing last-minute flexibility on low-frequency routes where the price differential is smaller.

Carbon reporting. Emissions calculations start with city pair distance. The great-circle distance between origin and destination, combined with aircraft type and cabin class, produces per-trip CO2 estimates for sustainability reporting.

City Pairs vs. Airport Pairs

City pairs and airport pairs are related but not identical. A city pair groups flights at the metro level. An airport pair is specific to two individual airports: JFK–LHR is an airport pair, while NYC–LON is a city pair encompassing all airport combinations between the two metro areas.

For corporate travel reporting, city-level grouping typically provides more actionable insights. A company might fly 50 segments between NYC and LON across three origin airports and two destination airports. Analyzing each airport pair separately fragments the volume, understating the company's negotiating power on that corridor.

The GSA City Pair Program

The most prominent government application of city pair data is the U.S. General Services Administration's City Pair Program (CPP). Established in 1980 with 11 markets, it now covers 16,601 markets for FY 2026 [1].

The program awards contracts to airlines providing discounted fares on specific city pairs for federal travelers. Key features include fully refundable tickets, no advance purchase requirements, no change fees, and stable pricing throughout the fiscal year. Seven airlines hold contracts for FY 2026: Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Breeze Airways, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines [1].

CPP fares benchmark 49.1% below comparable commercial fares. For example, the FY 2026 YCA (unrestricted coach) rate on BOS–DCA is $84 one-way, while the deeply discounted _CA fare is $67 [1]. Federal travelers must use City Pair fares when available unless a specific exception under the Federal Travel Regulation applies.

While the CPP is a government program, its structure illustrates a principle that applies to corporate programs: concentrating volume on defined city pairs creates pricing power. Companies with predictable route patterns can negotiate similar arrangements with carriers serving their highest-traffic corridors.

Best Practices for City Pair Analysis

Travel managers who treat city pair data as an ongoing operational input rather than an annual report get better results.

Rank routes by total spend, not just volume. A city pair with moderate volume but high average fares may represent a larger savings opportunity than the highest-volume route with already-competitive pricing.

Compare managed and unmanaged bookings. On a given city pair, how often do travelers book through the managed channel versus outside it? A high off-platform rate on a specific route often signals that the corporate tool isn't surfacing competitive fares for that corridor.

Segment by cabin class. The same city pair may look efficient in economy but expensive in business class. Breaking spend by cabin reveals whether airline policy rules or traveler behavior are driving up costs on specific routes.

Monitor seasonally. Fare variability on a city pair fluctuates with demand. Routes serving conference cities spike during event seasons. Advance-booking policies calibrated to seasonal patterns capture savings that flat policies miss.

Evaluate route alternatives. For city pairs with high fares and limited competition, consider whether nearby airports or low-cost carriers on adjacent routes reduce total trip cost. An alternate airport 30 minutes farther from the office may save $200 per trip on a route with limited carrier competition.

Related Terms

• New Distribution Capability (NDC): The data standard modernizing how airlines distribute fares and ancillary services to travel agencies and booking platforms.
• Booking Engine: The front-end platform where travelers search and book flights, which surfaces city pair pricing and availability from multiple sources.
• Best Available Rate: The lowest unrestricted hotel or airfare rate publicly available at a given time, used as the benchmark when evaluating whether negotiated corporate rates on a city pair deliver genuine savings.

Sources

[1] U.S. General Services Administration, "City Pair Program — Award Highlights, FY 2026," 2025, https://www.gsa.gov/travel/plan-a-trip/transportation-airfare-rates-pov-rates/airfare-rates-city-pair-program/award-highlights