No choice: Qantas hikes airfares
Qantas will increase airfares in response to rising fuel costs, with higher ticket prices kicking in next week.
Aviation giant Qantas says it has no choice but to increase airfares in response to rising fuel costs with domestic and international ticket prices to jump 3.5 per cent from next week.
The move follows a market update last month, in which Qantas warned it would have to make adjustments to fares if fuel prices continued to climb.
An airline spokesman said Qantas and Jetstar absorbed recent fuel hikes but given the current tensions in the Middle East and broader economic factors including a weaker Australian dollar, the price of fuel was expected to stay elevated for some time.
“As a result, Qantas will increase fares by an average of 3.5 per cent to recover some of this higher cost going forward while continuing to absorb the remainder,” the spokesman said. “Similarly, Jetstar will increase its fares by an average of 3 per cent. Actual increases will vary by route and cabin.”
The changes would apply to bookings made from October 27, meaning customers could beat the increase by buying airline seats before then.
The spokesman said even after the adjustment, fares would remain below the peaks seen late last year.
“The group is acutely conscious of the importance of affordable travel and will continue to have regular sales and special offers,” he said.
Travel agents were being informed of the increase on Friday.
It comes as airlines prepare to add significantly more seats on international routes ahead of the busy summer holiday period.
From October 29, Qantas is putting on about 1 million additional seats through increased frequencies to the US, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Delhi and New Zealand.
The flying kangaroo is also reinstating Sydney-Shanghai from October 29, and launching new routes from Brisbane to Honiara and Brisbane-Wellington.
All Nippon Airways is restarting Perth-Tokyo (Narita) from October 29, and United Airlines is increasing flights from Brisbane to San Francisco to a daily frequency, and adding Brisbane-Los Angeles from November 29.
Sydney-San Francisco services by United are set to jump to twice daily from October 28 and larger Boeing 777-300ERs are being scheduled on Melbourne-San Francisco, adding an extra 100 seats a flight.
China Eastern Airlines will relaunch Brisbane-Shanghai flights from October 29, increasing to daily from December 3, and China Southern will provide a non-stop service between Brisbane and Guangzhou from November 17.
The huge uplift in capacity reflected the enormous demand for international travel, with the recovery in overseas travel now outpacing that of domestic flying, from Sydney Airport.
September passenger traffic showed the number of Australian passport holders flying internationally last month was just 1 per cent lower than pre-pandemic levels.
Trans-Tasman travel was especially popular over the school holidays, and the China recovery continued to gain momentum in September, with the number of Chinese passport holders now 78 per cent recovered.
Sydney Airport CEO Geoff Culbert said routes where capacity was strong were seeing the fastest recovery, including South Korea and Vietnam.
“However, where seat supply is still lagging well behind 2019 levels, market recovery is tracking with seat supply,” said Mr Culbert.
“This includes some key markets like the Middle East, North America, Hong Kong and Taiwan.”
Major US gateway Los Angeles International Airport reported on Friday that it had surpassed pre-pandemic passengers numbers for the first time on two days in October.
On October 9, 111,017 passengers were screened compared with 107,675 on the same day in 2019. The next day passenger numbers also exceeded the corresponding day four years ago.
Interim chief executive officer Bea Hsu said it was a remarkable milestone.
“The fall travel season is already taking off at the highest levels since 2019 and LAX looks forward to more record-setting days as we welcome passengers into the Thanksgiving and winter holidays,” said Ms Hsu.
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