Tassie travel agents in crisis mode as lockdowns bring influx of flight cancellations

A Tasmanian travel agent says he is doing “three times the work for nothing” as he attempts to get travellers to their destination amid continued flight cancellations. LATEST >>

A TASMANIAN travel agent says he is doing “three times the work for nothing” as he attempts to get travellers to their destination amid continued flight cancellations from the major airlines.

Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin have been cancelling Sydney and Melbourne flights to and from Hobart and Launceston airports, as the mainland cities worked to bring the latest Covid outbreaks under control.

Launceston Travel and Cruise Centre Director Andrew Brown said advice on flights was changing within hours.

“Clients are having to overnight, flights are not connecting, origin flights are rescheduled to arrive after the next connecting flight,” he said.

Mr Brown said he and his brother have been without staff at their business since the end of Jobkeeper payments in March and are having to navigate through the cancellations and refunds.

“It’s also navigating government regulations, anyone going to WA is not able to go by Melbourne or Sydney, they have to fly direct, even though they are not leaving the airport,” he said.

COVID vaccinations arrive

He said organising flights to northern Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory were the most difficult.

“We had an incident last week in far North Queensland where a family had to stay on three days at their own expense because there was no flights home to Tasmania,” he said.

Aviation expert Geoffrey Thomas said the flight cancellations had been catastrophic to the tourism industry.

“Qantas is cancelling thousands of flights, Virgin are cancelling hundreds and REX has grounded six aircraft.”

He said while direct flights were still operating it was not making up for the disruption caused by the cancellation of flights through Melbourne and Sydney.

“What airlines will try to do is put on more flights from Tasmania to other areas that are not locked down like the Northern Territory,” he said.

From 9am on Monday nine flights that were meant to arrive in Hobart that day from Sydney and Melbourne were cancelled and an additional seven that were scheduled to depart were also cancelled.

In Launceston five Jetstar flights scheduled to arrive on Monday from Sydney and Melbourne have been cancelled, in addition to a Qantas flight from Melbourne.

Three flights to Melbourne and one to Sydney from Launceston have also been cancelled for Monday.

Flight cancellations have been an issue in preceding weeks due to the lockdowns in both mainland cities.

“There’s a downturn in travel exacerbated by the continued closures, people are hesitating to book in advance and that’s a big loss,” Mr Brown said.

Tassie flight cancellations imposed by lockdowns causes travel chaos

CANCELLED flights are causing chaos for travellers attempting to fly in and out of the state.

Qantas, Virgin and Jetstar have cancelled a combined 11 flights to Sydney and Melbourne as well as one to Brisbane that were meant to be departing Hobart airport on Friday.

Another 12 flights that were meant to travel from Sydney or Melbourne to Hobart on Friday have also been cancelled.

An increase of flight cancellations has been seen as lockdowns were imposed in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia.

Melbourne flight arrivals at Hobart International Airport. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Clare Armstrong is one of those who is attempting to navigate the cancellations to visit her parents in Launceston.

Ms Armstrong said she’s now on her fourth version of her travel itinerary after her original flights were cancelled.

“You can’t fly direct from Canberra (to Launceston), normally you go through Sydney and Melbourne, those cities are in lockdown so that’s the main issue.”

She said there were issues with connecting flights linking up, as airlines had reduced the number of domestic flights.

Arrivals into Hobart Airport going through Covid screening procedures with Biosecurity Tasmania. Picture: MATHEW FARRELL

“The airlines tried to rebook me on flights with a longer stop over which is not ideal because you’re not really transiting and you’re having to stay at approved hotels and there are extra costs that go with that.”

She is now flying direct to Hobart from Canberra on Friday, and will be taking an unusual route home.

“The only way to get flight back on day I needed was fly Launceston to Brisbane, change over and fly direct to Canberra,” she said.

The lockdowns in three states have seen demand for domestic flights plummet.

In an all staff email sent on Wednesday night, Qantas chief executive officer Alan Joyce said the combined impact of the New South Wales, South Australian and Victorian lockdowns had resulted in a 40 per cent drop in demand for domestic flights compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Originally published as Tassie travel agents in crisis mode as lockdowns bring influx of flight cancellations