By Business & Finance 
IdeaWorksCompany researched financial filings made by 130 airlines all over the world, 63 of which disclosed qualifying revenue activity, to reveal that ancillary revenue reported by these airlines was $38.1bn during 2014.
That figure represents a more than $35.6bn increase since 2007, and the 2014 number is up 20.9% over $31.5bn from 2013.
The 2015 CarTrawler Yearbook of Ancillary Revenue by IdeaWorksCompany examines 63 airlines that disclosed revenue in financial filings during 2014 from sources such as frequent flier miles sold to partners, fees for checked bags, and commissions from car rentals.
The yearbook’s individual airline listings clarify the type of ancillary revenue activity for each carrier. Some airlines are vague in their descriptions and merely provide an ‘ancillary revenue’ line on the income statement without further details.
Some of the carriers don’t specifically list ancillary revenue, but describe qualifying activities such as ‘revenue from the sale of frequent flier miles to partners’ or ‘revenue from onboard cafe sales’. Other airlines, such as AirAsia, Hawaiian, and Spirit, provide robust details and seem very proud of their ancillary revenue accomplishments.
