Passengers to be slugged with soaring international fares

Soaring airfares and compliance costs are taking the shine off Australia’s international border reopening.

Qantas is the only international airline to put regular overseas flights on sale when borders open next month. Picture: Getty Images

The cost of international travel could be double what it was pre-Covid with airfares up 70 per cent on 2019 levels and passengers being slugged further for mandatory Covid tests.

Data provided by flight booking site Webjet showed airfares booked in the first week of October for popular routes such as Sydney-London and Sydney-Los Angeles, were drastically higher than in the same week of 2019.

In the case of Sydney-London, travellers paid an average of $5408 for a return fare, compared to $3134 pre-pandemic.

Sydney-LA fares were up from $2106 in 2019 to $3585 in 2021, and the cost of a return ticket for Melbourne-London leapt from $3517 to $6789.

The huge difference was attributed to limited competition and reduced capacity on those routes and the fact most flights being booked were in the peak December period.

Travellers also faced a slew of additional costs in the form of compulsory pre-flight Covid tests at $150 each, higher travel insurance premiums and more costly hire cars and guided tours.

Limited frequency of flights was likely to mean longer stopovers in hubs such as Los Angeles and Dubai at further cost to travellers, and places such as Singapore had mandated Covid-19 insurance for any short-term ­arrivals, for an extra $80 a person.

International Air Transport Association chief executive Oillie Walsh warned higher airport charges would also be passed on to passengers, with London’s Heathrow pushing to up aeronautical rates by 90 per cent in 2022.

“This must stop if the industry is to have a fair opportunity at­ recovery,” Mr Walsh said.

Don’t Forget Travel Group ­director Andrew Sullivan said anyone contemplating an overseas trip would need to budget about 15 per cent more for compliance measures, on top of higher airfares and insurance.

“We have to get out of our head the way we travelled before ­because it’s all different now,” Mr Sullivan said.

“Even the time taken will differ. A two-week trip is now ostensibly three weeks when you factor in a week of home quarantine.”

 

Flight Centre chief executive Graham Turner agreed international travel would be a “reasonably expensive” proposition as borders reopened and airlines ­readjusted their schedules.

But he was hopeful the requirement for costly Covid tests at almost every step of the journey would eventually be eased, and airlines would open more seats to match the demand.

“Airfares will tend to be ­expensive when things first open up, particularly if you’re going to London from Sydney in December, it might be more expensive than the normal peak season,” Mr Turner said.

“Come the new year there should be a lot of specials around and by the northern summer we should expect costs to come down.”

Webjet OTA chief executive David Galt said the addition of more services to and from Australia would help bring fares down, and present travellers with more choice. “With Aussies now being given the green light to start planning their international adventures, we expect airlines to respond in kind and increase their capacities in the coming weeks and months,” Mr Galt said.

Qantas is the only international airline to schedule regular long-haul services in response to the planned border reopening next month, with other carriers still waiting on more information from government in relation to passenger caps and quarantine.

Mr Turner said the lack of detail being shared with the travel industry was deeply frustrating.

“Queensland is planning for the 2032 Olympics but they can’t tell us what’s happening in the travel industry for the next four to six weeks,” he said.

“It’s not only Queensland, it’s not only Australia. In the US trans-Atlantic travel is supposed to be returning on November 1 but there’s very little information about that. Governments seem to be in some sort of paralysis. It’s like everyone’s asleep. It’s quite a worry they can’t give us any times and dates and details.”

In July 41 international passenger airlines operated to and from Australia, carrying 150,000 people in and out on aircraft that were just under 80 per cent empty.

Australia Federation of Travel Agents chair Tom Manwaring said once passenger caps were lifted and airlines could fill their cabins, fares would fall accordingly.

“We will see airfares return to levels closer to what they were pre-Covid, and as vaccination rates rise, there will be no need for tests and quarantine – all those deterrents to travel,” he said.