Coronavirus: Flight fare restrictions ‘a bit rich’

Australians trying to get home from overseas are finding money and loyalty matter most to airlines limited to 50 passengers a flight.

New arrivals at Sydney International Airport are ushered into waiting buses for hotel quarantine. Picture: Jeremy Piper

Australians trying to return home from overseas amid the COVID-19 crisis are discovering that money and loyalty are everything now that strict controls are in place for passengers on international flight arrivals.

With airlines restricted to carry­ing no more than 50 people a flight into Sydney, those who have forked out for business class seats, or are top-tier frequent flyers, are being given priority over economy passengers.

The new rules have resulted in some disquiet among returning Australians who have found them­selves “bumped” from flights back home with less than 24 hours’ notice.

One family booked to return from Sweden to Australia with Qatar Airways said their tickets were cancelled at the same time as the airline advertised business class seats for $26,465.

Another would-be traveller said he was told by Qatar’s support line that they were “only allowing business class passengers” to travel.

Airlines including Cathay Pacific, United Airlines and Singapore Airlines said they were complying with government restrictions on flights into Australia, but would not say how numbers were being managed.

Only Air New Zealand would admit that ticket type and loyalty level were taken into account when managing customers to comply with the new restriction.

“We are proactively contacting customers who are affected by these changes and customers who have booked through a travel agent should contact their travel agent,” an Air New Zealand spokeswoman said.

“We have a standard process which takes into account a number of factors, including ticket type and loyalty level when it comes to moving customers to other flights.”

A Singapore Airlines spokeswoman said it was working with state and federal governments to ensure inbound flights did not place extra burdens on Australian quarantine facilities: “We continue to monitor passenger numbers on inbound flights to Australia and where necessary make adjustments to loads to ensure we do not contribute to an overwhelming of facilities.”

Australian Bureau of Statistics data for May showed 16,800 ­people arrived here in the month, including 13,400 resident returns and 3400 short-term visitors.

Most returning residents flew from India, followed by New Zealand, the US and Britain.

New Zealand was the leading source of short-term visitors, ahead of Britain and the US.