Travellers are paying less for their international airfares and more for domestic, Flight Centre data shows

The cost of international air travel is continuing to drop and tickets for some routes are as much as 21 per cent cheaper than they were a year ago.

International airfares out of Australia continue to drop and new Flight Centre data shows some routes are up to 21 per cent cheaper for economy than a year ago, and as much as 10 per cent cheaper in business class.

Economy fares on the Melbourne to Los Angeles route averaged $1672 in the September quarter, compared with $2111 in the same period in 2023 – a 21 per cent drop.

Other routes that have had significant falls included Sydney-Dubai at $1996 return compared with $2456; Perth-London at $2107 against $2559; and Sydney-Paris which was down to $2299 from $2641.

Across all international routes, economy fares were down about $100 on average or 5 to 10 per cent. Business class fares had also fallen by about $300 or 4 per cent.

However, the opposite was true of domestic airfares. Flight Centre recorded a 3 to 5 per cent increase in the September quarter compared with a year ago when Rex and Bonza were still flying. The rise was enough to add between $10 and $20 to fares.

Flight Centre corporate global chief operating officer Melissa Elf said the gradual decline in international airfares reflected the growing capacity and competition among airlines flying out of Australia.

Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics data showed the number of international airline seats on flights in and out of Australia had risen 9 per cent in the year to July.

“We’ve seen a year on year drop in average international fares every month for well over a year now, so it’s more than just a trend; this is increasing stability in the travel industry,” Ms Elf said.

“The biggest drops in economy fares in the latest quarter are those into the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, France, UK and Italy.”

Travellers to London are paying a lot less than they were a year ago, according to Flight Centre data.

She said the proposed deal between Virgin Australia and Qatar would benefit travellers by increasing capacity between Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Doha.

From Doha, travellers could connect to 107 destinations across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

“There is a direct correlation between regions that were adding and welcoming airline capacity and the cost of travel decreasing,” Ms Elf said.

“With demand into Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the US remaining high, it’s critical more flights and competition are added, and announcements like that from Virgin and Qatar – once approved – is the kind of thing the industry needs to ensure prices drop even further.”

Routes experiencing the biggest declines in business class fares were the US and Italy, with drops of 10 and 8 per cent respectively, Ms Elf said.

The lower fares were expected to result in even more companies booking work trips, as travel budgets went further.

“Our customers have told us that 40 per cent of businesses plan to increase their travel this financial year, while 42 per cent of customers intend to increase their travel spend,” Ms Elf said.

Bureau of Statistics data on overseas departures and arrivals for August showed Bali was still the clear favourite for Australians holidaying abroad, well clear of New Zealand. The UK and US were a distant third and fourth.

Thailand, Fiji, Vietnam, Italy and India were all seeing a lot more Aussie visitors than pre-pandemic, while numbers to China were yet to fully recover.

Heading in the other direction, New Zealanders led the charge, ahead of short-term arrivals from China, Japan, Singapore and the US.

The data showed overseas visitors to Australia in August still lagged pre-Covid numbers by 16.5 per cent or by 130,000.

Originally published as Travellers are paying less for their international airfares and more for domestic, Flight Centre data shows