Cheaper airfares waiting in the wings
Australians will benefit from cheaper international airfares over the coming year as airlines look to enter or add seats into the country at a time when capacity is behind pre-pandemic levels by nearly 500,000 seats per month.
Airlines such as Qantas, Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways are set to add more flights in the coming months and players such as Turkish Airlines will enter the market and potentially drive airfares down by more than 10 per cent.
After a controversial decision by the government to block Qatar Airways from flying more aircraft into Australia earlier this year, industry sources say the Doha-based carrier could be preparing to apply again in the new year for permission to boost capacity.
The latest data from the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics shows there were 3.86 million seats available in September – a deficit of 450,000 seats from September 2019, or the equivalent of 928 fully loaded Qantas Airbus A380 aircraft with 485 seats.
Despite this, the number of seats in the market was 60.8 per cent more than a year ago.
Flight Centre chief executive Graham Turner said the availability of seats into Europe and the Middle East remained 70 to 75 per cent below pre-pandemic levels.
“Once we really get competition on these major routes … it’ll both bring down airfares and increase capacity,” Mr Turner pointed out.
“So that’s what we’re hoping for by the middle of next year that we’ll have sufficient capacity and lower airfares and that’s good news for us and good news for travellers.”