Last year, the airport was selected as the number one airport in the nation for customer satisfaction by a J.D. Powers and Associates survey. This week, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has found that part of the reason for that selection may be that at William P. Hobby Airport travelers get more of a bang for their buck.

According to the latest Air Travel Price Index study conducted by the United States Bureau of Transportation Statistics, a division of the DOT, Hobby Airport passengers are paying up to $100 less than at other airports across the nation.

The study, which is a measure of actual fares paid by travelers over time – not published fares, found that the average passenger at Houston’s second-largest airport paid about $277.46 per airline ticket through the fourth-quarter of 2006. The national average per ticket across the country, through the same timeframe, was $378.

Hobby’s low prices come at a time when average U.S. air fares across the board are at a record high. The same study found that the fourth-quarter national air fares for 2006 were the highest fourth-quarter levels registered since 2000.

For Mary Case, airport manager of the 80-year-old Hobby, it is all in attracting the right airlines.

“We are in the business of making travel accessible,’’ says Case. “When you look at the new carriers and destinations coming into our airport you see that. Hobby is a low-cost airport and people appreciate that.”

Just last year, low-cost carries JetBlue Airways kicked off service from the low-fare airport. The low-fare airline offers three daily flights to John F. Kennedy Airport.

Southwest Airlines, which operates a majority of the flights from Hobby, now serves 34 domestic destinations from the airport.

In addition, this month, it announced five frequency increases over the summer to destinations such as San Diego, Orlando, Oakland and Denver.