Rising fares, more leisure travel to buoy these airline stocks: Analysts

An Alaska Airlines jet passes the air traffic control tower at Los Angles International Airport.
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U.S. airlines should outperform as more people chose to spend their vacations abroad and higher fares offset climbing fuel prices, according to Macquarie.

"The current environment of strong traffic growth coupled with the maintaining of pricing discipline has shifted sentiment more positively towards the airlines," analysts Susan Donofrio and Aubrey Tianello wrote Monday. "Given several guidance updates in the past week, we are refreshing estimates to capture a firming revenue outlook that we believe is now starting to react to higher and more stable fuel prices."

The analysts highlighted companies they believe will outperform in the next year as a result of the improving trends in the airline industry.

Here are two of their favorite ideas.