Up to 12 million airline seats have been booked in December and January
Expensive airfares haven’t been a deterrent to travel as the major airlines report 12 million seats have been booked this summer.
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About 12 million passengers – a number equivalent to almost half the nation’s population – will take flight over summer, according to December and January bookings from the two major airline groups.
The enormous forward bookings highlight the strength of demand for domestic and international travel, despite exorbitant airfares.
Capacity is still below pre-Covid levels, but is expected to gather pace in the new year.
Internationally, airlines are still reluctant to return to their 2019 schedules and the mid-2023 number of seats into Australia is expected to be 17 per cent below pre-pandemic levels.
Data provided by Cirium and Tourism Australia showed some destinations were being better served than others, led by India which has 275 per cent more airline seats than in 2019.
Services from Japan were also expected to exceed pre-pandemic capacity by June 2023 while the US and Singapore continued to lag behind.
Tourism Australia managing director Phillipa Harrison said international capacity was “steadily returning” and that would continue next year.
“In October, international capacity into Australia was at 59 per cent of pre-Covid levels; that is expected to jump to 68 per cent this month and continue to grow into the new year,” Ms Harrison said.
“This continued growth is critical to driving competitive pricing, which will be key to the Australian tourism industry’s ongoing recovery.”
Limited capacity is not stopping an estimated 12 million seats being booked within and out of Australia over summer on Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Australia.
The Qantas Group was expected to carry eight million people in December and January, and Virgin Australia about four million. Both airlines are adding more services for the summer.
This month, Qantas planned to resume seasonal flights from Adelaide to Hobart and the Gold Coast; from Canberra to the Sunshine Coast and Cairns; Brisbane to Launceston and Melbourne to Merimbula.
New international routes of Brisbane-Tokyo (Haneda), Melbourne to Dallas-Fort Worth and Sydney-Seoul were also getting under way in December, and Qantas was replacing Boeing 737s with larger A330s on the Sydney-Bali services.
Virgin Australia was preparing to add Adelaide-Bali to its itinerary from December 14, and send more planes to Fiji and Queenstown in New Zealand from the east coast capitals.
Domestic holiday destinations, including the Gold Coast, Hamilton Island, Cairns and the Whitsundays, would get between 55 and 80 extra services a week, Tasmania 38 and the Sunshine Coast 26 more Virgin flights a week.
A statement from Qantas said that while capacity growth was “temporarily limited” to increase operational resilience, more aircraft were entering service in the weeks ahead.
These included a sixth A380 which was due back into service mid December to boost capacity over Christmas.
Jetstar was adding three new long-range A321neos to fly domestic routes and to Bali.
In the race to lure international airlines back to Australia, Sydney Airport was in the lead with 42 airlines servicing 43 destinations, compared with 44 carriers flying to 56 places in 2019.
In Melbourne, 29 airlines were flying to 30 international locations and Bangkok was one of the best serviced destinations.
Out of Brisbane, 23 international destinations were a single flight away, still some way off the 34 pre-Covid routes, and Cairns was back to six airlines flying as many international routes, two down on 2019.
Gold Coast Airport offered routes to three countries, with a fourth set to come online in March.
Perth was awaiting the return of seven international airlines, with 15 currently operating to 12 destinations, while Adelaide had six foreign carriers going to six different places.
Considerable incentives were being offered at state government level to attract carriers, through “aviation attraction funds” worth $60m in New South Wales and $200m in Queensland. Other states were also handing out sweeteners but had not disclosed the size of their money pot.
On a global scale, in October international air traffic was at 72.1 per cent of pre-Covid levels and the Asia Pacific region recorded the strongest growth in the past year.
International Air Transport Association director general Willie Walsh said it was clear people were enjoying the freedom to travel.
“Governments need to pay attention to the message that air travel is fundamental to how we live and work,” Mr Walsh said.
“That reality should drive policies to enable aviation to operate as efficiently as possible.”
Originally published as Up to 12 million airline seats have been booked in December and January
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