The number of Ohioans taking to the air for travel this holiday 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 is expected to be the nation’s second highest end-of-year travel season in a decade.

AAA attributed a gradually improving economy to the travel increase.

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

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

In Ohio, AAA expects more than 3.4 million travelers to hit the road this holiday season, a nearly 1 percent increase from 2010.

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

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

The average domestic round-trip air fare at Dayton International Airport rose 12.4 percent to $370.88 in the second quarter when compared with the same period in 2010,

The Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport saw an 11.8 percent increase to $425.67. Cincinnati, where Delta Air Lines is dominant, remains one of the nation’s most expensive airports for fares.

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 by air — a 10.5 percent decrease from 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.”

During the 2010 Christmas weekend, Butler County had about 50 vehicle crashes, with no fatalities. Two people were killed, however, in alcohol-related crashes during the New Year’s weekend, according to the Ohio Department of Public Safety.

Sgt. Tracy Callahan, of the Ohio Highway Patrol’s Lebanon post, said troopers will receive overtime hours through a federal grant to increase patrols, mainly along Interstate 75 in the construction zone between Franklin and Monroe.

The Butler and Warren county sheriff’s offices report no scheduled OVI checkpoints or saturation points.

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

“It’s foreseeable that we could see gas go down 10 to 15 cents between now and Christmas,” he said.

Ohio’s average price for gasoline has been at about $3.21 per gallon, according to Laskoski. The wholesale prices will be watched closely, Laskoski said, as that will dictate any price increases.

“It’s realistic to expect prices to edge lower, but at some point, especially starting in the new year, we have to expect prices to bounce back a little into spring,” Laskoski said.

Staff writer John Nolan contributed to this report.