TD Guest Writer
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In an email to its network of travel agencies, Qantas announced a 4% rise in their economy fares. This revision affects Qantas’s basic pricing for all of its domestic services.
“Absolutely baffling that they would be increasing their fares any higher while popularity is at an all-time low,” said one Australian travel agent in response to the price hike.
Airfares increase for both sales and departures started on Thursday, 29 September 2022.
In response to questions about the fare hike, a Qantas representative stated that it was due to rising jet fuel costs. An estimated 60% increase in fuel costs from FY19 to FY23 has pushed the price of fuelling the flying kangaroo up to an estimated $5.0 billion in FY23, or around $1 billion higher than in 2019.
According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the new prices are being implemented after years of incredibly low fares, which the ACCC also mentioned in a press release.
ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said earlier this month that “after nearly 18 months of historically low airfares, the cost of domestic flying has increased dramatically in response to robust demand, temporary capacity limitations, and extremely high jet fuel costs.”
Jetstar, the low-cost subsidiary of Australian airline giant Qantas, has had to cancel several flights over the last month due to the grounding of three of its eleven Boeing 787 Dreamliners.
With engineering and operational problems still affecting the network, this is an improvement from the beginning of the month when the airline was without five of its Dreamliners.
Damage from debris on the runway, repeated lightning strikes, and bird strikes have all damaged our worldwide network, a Jetstar representative told the Sydney Morning Herald, necessitating engineering work on the airline’s Boeing 787 aircraft.
According to the spokesperson, the airline had to “re-accommodate” customers onto alternate services or other airlines.
Since August, all Jetstar flights from Melbourne to Changi have either been delayed or cancelled.
One of the budget airline’s 787s was struck by lightning in May, and another was damaged on the way to Cairns, both of which have grounded the whole fleet. Due to an ongoing inspection of the plane’s electrical system, the third aircraft is still grounded.
According to the airline’s spokesperson, Jetstar has provided passengers affected by cancellations and significant delays ticket credits, alternative flights, or refunds. The airline said that by the end of last week, all of the grounded planes had been reinstated.
Unfortunately, few seats are available to re-accommodate clients due to fewer international planes flying and the school holidays. Still, our teams throughout the company are exploring all alternatives to get them on their way as soon as possible, the spokesperson added.
