In a drastic drop over last year, the number of Ohioans taking to the air for travel this Christmas season will decrease more than 10 percent this year, said experts from the travel association AAA.

“That’s a huge drop; I haven’t seen that kind of a swing for as long as I can remember,” said Bill Purpura, spokesman with AAA, citing rising airline fares and a smaller capacity of flights.

Despite this projected decrease in air travel, the 11-day holiday period from Dec. 23 to Jan. 2 will be the nation’s second highest end-of-year travel season in a decade.

AAA estimates approximately 91.9 million people will travel 50 or more miles from home.

AAA did cite a gradually improving economy as attributing to the travel increase.

“It’s making a nice comeback; it’s very encouraging,” Purpura said.

Ohio will see an almost 1 percent increase over 2010, as AAA expects more than 3.4 million Ohioans to be traveling.

The highest travel volume in the past decade was seen pre-recession in 2006-07 with 93.7 million Americans, Purpura said.

Air travel

Regionally-based airports in Dayton and Cincinnati have seen percent increases in the double-digits for round-trip air fares.

At Dayton International Airport, prices rose 12.4 percent to $370.88 in the second quarter when compared to same period in 2010.

Only about 6 percent of travelers — or about 5.4 million Americans — will use airlines services for their holiday travel, AAA reports. This is a steep decrease of about 9.7 percent nationally.

In Ohio, less than 190,000 people will travel in air — a 10.5 percent decrease over 2010.

Driving remains the No. 1 form of transportation this upcoming holiday as it lends itself to more flexibility, convenience and affordability, Purpura said.

“Always expect the unexpected,” Purpura said. “You don’t want to be far from home and find yourself stranded.”

Senior Petroleum Analyst Gregg Laskoski of GasBuddy.com, an online retail gasoline price watchdog, said the 3.1 million Ohio drivers will likely see gasoline prices remain modest at the pump this year.

Staff writer John Nolan contributed to this report