Wichita ? Airfares on some flights from Wichita Mid-Continent Airport have declined about 60 percent since businesses began pledging part of their travel budgets to certain low-cost carriers, officials with the cooperative promotion say.

Fair Fares Inc. is a so-called travel bank program intended to benefit airlines and the flying public alike.

In Wichita, the program was adopted this year with the goal of persuading passengers to fly from Mid-Continent rather than take advantage of the lower fares typically available at busier airports.

Wichita area businesses pledged $3.7 million worth of their travel budgets to AirTran Airways, which began serving the city May 8. Since then, the businesses have made good on 23 percent of the amount pledged, or $855,000 worth of fares.

“I’m pleased with what we’ve seen so far,” said Troy Carlson, chairman of Fair Fares.

The program also received $2.1 million in pledges for Frontier JetExpress, which began service in September between Wichita and Denver. So far, about $40,000 in pledges have been used, Carlson said.

Since AirTran’s and Frontier’s arrivals, fares have dropped 60 percent to 70 percent, he said.

About 300 businesses have either applied for Fair Fares credit cards set up through Intrust Bank to charge and track their pledge use or have used the airlines, Carlson said.