The arrival of low-cost airlines continues to help keep Buffalo airfares among the lowest in the nation, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Figures for the second quarter of 2007 said Buffalo Niagara International Airport ranked 87th out of 100 airports nationwide. The average domestic fare from BNIA, based on Bureau of Transportation statistics, was $259.49, down 6 percent from $276.16 a year ago. Since the second quarter of 2000 -- when airline travel costs were at historic highs, local air fares have declined by 12.7 percent from $297.36.

Since the same period of 1995, Buffalo has seen airline ticket costs drop 27 percent from $355.52, the second-largest decline behind Manchester, N.H. Officials with the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority, which operates BNIA, have credited the addition of Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways for increasing competition and lowering the cost of air travel.

Across Upstate New York average fares also declined year-over-year but the DOT report showed prices remained well above Buffalo. In Rochester (62nd ) second-quarter fares were $307.07, down 4.6 percent; Albany (37th) was at $338.92, down 2.6 percent; Syracuse (29th) fares were $357.61, down 4.9 percent.

The highest airfares in the nation are in Cincinnati at $562.23, up 6.7 percent from last year. Three airports in Hawaii had the lowest air fares in the second quarter.

The average second-quarter domestic air fare in the U.S. was $326.22, down 4.5 percent from last year.