Airlines cash in on footy finals as fans pay big bucks to back their teams

Airfares have predictably jumped ahead of footy finals this weekend with diehard Port and Cowboys fans the hardest hit.

Airfares have predictably shot up ahead of weekend footy finals, with some travellers paying more than $600 for a one-way flight to watch their team play.

The Australian Airports Association shared data gleaned from airlines’ own websites to highlight the jump in fares on routes that were normally less expensive.

North Queensland Cowboy fans heading from Townsville to Sydney for the team’s sudden death semi-final with the Cronulla Sharks were looking at fares of around $550 on Qantas, up from about $300 at other times of the year.

No seats remained on non-stop Jetstar flights from Townsville to Sydney, and Virgin Australia does not operate the route directly.

Port Adelaide fans hoping to watch their side play the Swans in the AFL preliminary final on Friday night also faced a costly trip, with Qantas charging $674 for remaining seats.

Virgin Australia still had some room on its Adelaide-Sydney flights for a more reasonable $330 while Jetstar had sold out.

Any Brisbane Lions fans flying to Melbourne for Saturday night’s showdown with the Geelong Cats should expect to fork out about $419 one-way with Qantas, or $304 with Jetstar.

Virgin Australia had a $204 fare for a 6.05am flight on Saturday, but one-way flights later in the morning cost between $336 and $556.

Flying to footy finals is an expensive affair for many, with any cheap fares being snapped up quickly. Picture: Jeremy Piper/NewsWire

A Virgin Australia spokeswoman said fares booked very close to departure dates and times tended to be higher than the average fare in line with the reduced number of available seats.

“This is especially the case around major events like football finals and during peak travel periods like weekends and school holidays when more people want to travel,” she said.

“Relative to competitors, there are still good value last minute fares available this weekend.”

Aviation lecturer at Central Queensland University Doug Drury said footy finals represented “inelastic demand” for airlines, which meant there was a ready market of people willing to pay whatever it took to see their team play.

“Travellers fall into two groups, elastic and inelastic, which simply describes their sensitivity to price changes,” Professor Drury said.

“Leisure travellers tend to be elastic because they can time their holidays to the lowest fare, while business travellers and footy fans need to be somewhere on a specific date, making them less sensitive to price changes.”

Australian Airports Association policy and advocacy manager Natalie Heazlewood said the surging fares highlighted the lack of competition in the domestic airline sector.

“Unfortunately it’s a common story for many in regional areas,” she said. “Townsville is the perfect example where airfares have soared after competing airlines left the market.”

Both Qantas and Virgin Australia were expected to add significant capacity for the AFL and NRL grand finals in response to demand, and the airlines encouraged fans to book early to take advantage of the best fares.

Qantas noted that September 27 was gearing up to be one of the busiest days in September with footy finals coinciding with school holidays.

Bigger aircraft were expected to be added to Melbourne routes to help meet demand and keep fares down.

“As with all flights, the cheapest seats will sell out first so fans should get in quick,” Qantas Domestic chief executive Markus Svensson said.

The flare up over footy finals fares came as opposition transport spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie fired off a letter to Transport Minister Catherine King, urging her to take action to encourage competition in the aviation sector.

The demise of both Bonza and Rex in the space of three months has returned Australia’s domestic landscape to a duopoly of the Qantas and Virgin Australia groups.

Senator McKenzie said the government needed to put downward pressure on airfares, enact passenger protections for delays and cancellations and establish real consumer guarantees for airfares.

Ms King said she was pleased Senator McKenzie supported the reforms of the recent aviation white paper, which were “the most significant in over a decade”.

“I understand she has some concerns around timing, and I hope she can employ patience, like travellers did for nine years while her government did nothing,” Ms King said.

Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics data released this week showed domestic economy airfares had climbed 12 per cent since Rex bowed out of major city routes in late July.

Qantas and Virgin Australia both disputed the data, with Virgin saying there was always an increase in the period from July to September because of school holidays and footy finals.