Even ahead of the significant cuts in capacity carriers plan to carry out after Labor Day, there are several signs fares will be gaining altitude in the coming months. For one thing, Airline bean counters think so. Granted, fares are still pretty cheap if you consider the long view, as Scott McCartney just reminded us.

Even so, government data show prices are rising. The most recent numbers from the Bureau of Transportation out Wednesday showed a 4.4% bump in prices between the first quarters of 2007 and 2008. (The table, below, shows which markets have seen some of the fastest or slowest price increases.)

So is the cheap airfare party over, as some have indicated? Check out this interview with Rick Seaney of ticket price information site Farecompare.com, for his take.

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