Post-coronavirus airfares: fly Sydney-Melbourne for $19?
How do you spike post-coronavirus travel demand? Start by baiting the hook with insanely low airfares.
By Angus Whitley, May 5 2020
Air fares between Sydney and Melbourne, one of the world’s busiest routes, could fall as low as $19 to persuade the public to fly after the coronavirus pandemic, according to Qantas.
Qantas’s low-cost airline Jetstar could charge between $19 and $39 for those tickets once Australia lifts travel restrictions, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said on a call with reporters on Tuesday.
“We’ve no doubt that there’s a need for some stimulation to start a lot of the market traveling again,” Joyce said. “We’ll still cover our cash costs on those flights.”
Sydney-Melbourne is the fifth-busiest route globally, with about 10 million seats a year, according to OAG Aviation Worldwide. Jeju-Seoul in South Korea ranks top with 17.4 million seats. Qantas expects the domestic market to open before overseas routes.
As it borrowed yet more funds to weather the crisis, the airline said Tuesday that demand to fly overseas could take years to return. It has extended international flight cancellations until the end of July and is only operating at about 5% of its usual passenger capacity domestically.
Also read: Qantas pauses A380 upgrades, entire international fleet under review
This article is published under license from Bloomberg Media: the original article can be viewed here
Angus Whitely is a Sydney-based business reporter with Bloomberg
06 Feb 2014
Total posts 113
Love it...My key competitor is currently undergoing a sales process and is in trouble.
AJ's play - announce I am going to stimulate demand with unsustainable prices that meet my cash costs only...end result is it spooks possible buyers and the sales process delivers a poorer outcome and at in the end of the day I don't actually charge these low fares....happy days
Hi Guest, join in the discussion on Post-coronavirus airfares: fly Sydney-Melbourne for $19?