Qantas, Virgin Australia airfares up as much as 96 per cent

With the airlines already under fire, a new market analysis has shown just how much they have jacked up fares. See the list of prices.

Exclusive: Australian domestic airfares have shot up by as much as 96 per cent since May, market analysis has found.

Some overseas holiday destinations are now much cheaper than regional Australian centres, prompting concern about the effect on local tourism industries trying to recover from two years of pandemic hell.

With all major airlines under fire for recent cancellations, baggage losses and instances of poor customer relations, travel deals website Kayak has revealed average return economy airfares in Australia in July are approximately $409, an increase of about 24 per cent from May.

Gold Coast residents were facing the highest rise in ticket costs, with return economy fares to Melbourne up 96 per cent, and return economy fares to Sydney up 91 per cent, according to the Kayak analysis.

But there were other huge jumps. Cairns residents wanting to fly to Brisbane were facing fares 90 per cent higher that what they were in May. Fares from Adelaide to Melbourne were up 87 per cent, and tickets from Darwin to Sydney 85 per cent more expensive.

Travellers head towards the security screening point at Sydney Airport. Picture: John Appleyard

Regional tourism destinations are also being hit.

Brisbane residents wanting to fly return economy to Alice Springs are now paying an average of $1058, a 29 per cent increase from May.

Meanwhile a return economy fare on Qantas from Brisbane to Fiji is about $100 cheaper, coming in at $950.

Queensland Tourism Industry Council CEO Brett Fraser said the problem of overseas destinations being cheaper to fly to had impacted domestic tourism for years.

“The issue of Australians being able to access several overseas destinations more cheaply than those in their own backyard is not new,” Mr Fraser said.

“Some of Queensland’s best experiences and wonders can only be found in our regions. It’s a challenge that they’re made less accessible due to relatively high flight costs.

“Our industry has done it tough the last three years and to bounce back effectively, we rely on both the international and domestic visitor markets performing.”

Queensland Tourism Industry Council CEO Brett Fraser.

Finder.com.au travel expert Stephanie Yip said Australian holiday-makers “should be prepared for prices to remain steep”.

“The pandemic saw airlines take on a massive financial blow. They’re only in the early stages of recovering their losses,” she said.

“The rising cost of fuel is now exacerbating the problem. Higher fuel prices mean higher flight costs – planes can’t negotiate to use less fuel!”

But the high costs of fares is not stopping all Aussies from wanting to travel.

According to Finder’s Consumer Sentiment Tracker, 57 per cent of Aussies are planning a getaway in the next 12 months, up from 49 per cent last December. Nearly one in three of us (32 per cent) are planning to travel within Australia, 12 per cent want to travel overseas, and another 13 per cent hope to fly both domestically and internationally.

News Corp asked both Virgin Australia and Qantas about the outlook for fares for the rest of 2022.

A spokesperson for Qantas said the rising cost of fuel required the company “to rebalance capacity and fares in response”.

“The cuts to domestic flying levels for July and August are being deepened with capacity moving from 107 per cent of pre-Covid levels to 103 per cent,” the Qantas spokesperson said, adding that the company would “continue to monitor market conditions and adjust capacity as needed”.

A spokesperson for Virgin Australia said the airline “continues to offer incredible value and choice”.

“In an independent airfare study released last year, some of our economy fares were found to be up to 67 per cent better value than the competition,” the spokesperson said.