Airfares have risen as demand for travel continues to surge.
“We accept that the airlines are still experiencing some pandemic-related resource challenges,but the ACCC will be monitoring them closely to ensure they return capacity to the market in a timely manner to start easing pressure on airfares,” ACCC commissioner Anna Brakey said in a statement.
“We would be concerned if airlines withheld capacity to keep airfares high.”
The comments came after the ACCC’s latestAirline Competition in Australia quarterly report showed that the average revenue per passenger – an indication of average airfares across all fare types – was 27 per cent higher in October 2022 than in October 2019.
Discounted economy fares have soared the most because “with fewer flights but strong demand,the airlines don’t currently need to offer special fares to fill their planes”,the competition watchdog said. An index of the discounted economy fares across the nation’s top 70 domestic routes showed they were more than double in November of what they cost in April,it said.
International travel is also strained as seat capacity remains lower than before the pandemic,and,with some airlines temporarily or permanently withdrawing services from Australia,there is less competition to keep prices in check. In October this year,44 airlines were operating to and from Australia compared with 58 in September 2019.
While consumers will need to dig deeper if they plan to fly away this holiday period,airlines have posted near-record profits. In November,Qantas announced that itexpected underlying profit before tax to be between $1.35 billion and $1.45 billion,while Rex and Virgin Australia expect profits this financial year.