In the past year Dayton International Airport saw a 3 percent increase in travelers compared to 2011, newly released figures show, a better showing than Cincinnati Northern Kentucky Airport or Port Columbus International Airport.

Total passenger traffic at the airport reached 2,607,528 in 2012, an increase of 3.1 percent. Delta Air Lines and American Airlines had the largest increases in passengers, both hitting 8.8 percent increases year over year.

Total aircraft operations were 57,914, down 0.7 percent. Cargo handled by the airport is climbed 17.1 percent to 10,068.93 tons.

Airport spokeswoman Linda Hughes attributes economical ticket prices in Dayton in part for the good showing in 2012.

“We don’t set the ticket prices, the airlines do, but nine times out of ten it is much less expensive to fly out of Dayton,” Hughes said.

At Port Columbus International Airport, passenger figures were flat. Columbus saw total passenger boardings and departures drop from 6,378,722 in 2011 to 6,350,446 in 2012, or down 0.4 percent. Cargo was up for the year by 12.6 percent.

At Cincinnati Northern Kentucky, figures were only available through November.

In 2012, the airport saw 5,620,379 total passengers, down 14 percent from same period in 2011. That percent decline was true for both boarding and deplaning travelers.

In Dayton, the airplane seats available to the public increased with Delta’s use of larger jets and Southwest Airlines beginning service in August, said Terry Slaybaugh, Director of Aviation. “Our fares are a bargain, and that drove traffic up here from southern Ohio,” he said.

For the second quarter of 2012, the latest figures available, the average air fare at the Cincinnati airport was $535, compared with $378 at the Dayton airport and $377 at the Columbus airport, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.