Praise the Lord, part the Red Sea and put on the footy franks ‘cos just like my respect for Joe Jonas, airfares are about to come down, and I am not wasting any time in exploring the world before it goes to shit.
According to ABC News, Transport Minister Catherine King has claimed airfares will be coming down soon as rival airlines — such as Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines — begin the process of increasing its capacity on routes like Australia to Europe and Australia to th Middle East.
“We’re up to 91 per cent of pre-COVID capacity, we’ve got more capacity coming in … it is coming back, and we will start to see prices come down,” King told ABC’s 7.30.
King also mentioned that Etihad Airways, whose routes are mainly towards the Middle East, had capacity it wasn’t “using currently”, and an application from Turkish Airlines was pending approval.
Earlier this week, the Transport Minister faced backlash after she denied Qatar Airways approval to bring more flights into Australia.
As per ABC News, King made the decision to block Qatar Airway’s application for more flights on the same day she signed a letter to five Australian women who were allegedly “invasively strip-searched” three years ago at a Qatari airport.
The women alleged they’d been strip-searched in an ambulance and that they’d written to King, urging her not to allow Qatar Airways to gain more flights into the country, as per the publication.
Since the decision was made public, the transport minister has been criticised by the Australian Airports Association, travel agency Flight Centre, opposing MPs and Qatar Airways.
In response, King said that the flights were “not in national interest”, however, Shadow Finance Minister Jane Hume said the decision could result in Aussies seeing higher airfares.
“As long as Qatar Airways is locked out of those additional routes, then airfares will stay higher; artificially inflated for longer,” Hume said, per ABC News.
With that in mind, I wonder if these airlines with “extra capacity” would actually help the cost of air travel in comparison to just allowing more flights in.
It hasn’t been announced exactly when these airfares will drop, but I have a bucket load of destinations I need to see before I eventually (but unlikely) buy a house.
Hopefully, we will get more information on when and how much these airfares will drop soon.
