How thousand dollar Darwin flights could hurt the Territory economy

Territorians are paying unbelievable prices for late booking interstate flights. Read what is behind the eye-watering costs and have your say.

Travellers from Darwin are being slugged eye-watering fares by the major airlines to fly to interstate capital cities – and tarmac upgrades are being blamed.

Flight search engine webjet.com.au showed one-way, late booking fares out of Darwin to all capital cities were at a minimum around the thousand-dollar mark, with the largest single fare a one-way flight from Darwin to Adelaide on Wednesday priced at $3121.

Aviation expert Bruce Dale said the long-awaited tarmac upgrades at Darwin airport and the hotter than expected weather have contributed to the spectacular price surge.

He said a reduced runway meant aircraft payloads had to be cut – and this impacts ticket costs.

Darwin airfares to Brisbane in November and December 2023.

“Aircraft need a certain distance to take off and when runway length is reduced, you have to reduce the weight they can carry, which means less passengers and less cargo,” Mr Dale said. “Just like any form of shared transport, if you have fewer passengers to share the load, the ticket price has to go up.

“With the runway works, airlines have to juggle how much payload they can take.”

He said hotter than normal build-up weather had also impacted aircraft passenger capacity.

“As a general rule, for every one degree centigrade temperature increase, an aircraft needs 100m extra of runway because the air is thinner and engines are less efficient.,” he said. “Countering the heat is one of the reasons airports in Doha and Dubai have runways as long as 4km.”

Cola Maurirere, owner of travel agents itravel Darwin, said she had never seen domestic fares this expensive.

“It’s out of control,” she said. “It’s cheaper to fly overseas than it is domestically in Darwin.

Darwin airfares November 2023

“We’re able to get inexpensive international flights out of the east coast, but the cost of getting to the east coast out of Darwin are more than flights to USA and Europe.”

She said a flight booked today for Bali return on Friday cost just $500.

“This is what we have to deal with at the moment. It would be nice if we could get clarification from Darwin airport about what airlines they’re speaking to.

“We’re not told anything which makes it hard to plan ahead.”

Tourism Top End general manager Samantha Bennett urged Territorians to make use of the non-traditional airlines such as Nexus and Bonza when considering interstate bookings.

Bonza flights, which are booked via an app, kick off in the Territory on November 29 with a $149 Sunshine Coast-Darwin fare.

She said the excessive fares are a concern for the tourism industry.

“It’s a concern for liveability in the Territory, about being able to visit friends and family and have them come here over the Christmas break,” she said.

“Visiting family and friends are a very important part of the market coming up to the Christmas season.

“Supporting the new carriers puts pressure on the major airlines to review their fares and assess the competition.”