Tues "West Australian"
Qantas starts fare war
By Geoffrey Thomas
QANTAS Holidays has launched low-fare packages from Perth to Sydney and Melbourne in a bid to stimulate domestic travel.
The packages, offered by the subsidiary of the airline, are expected to trigger a big fare war and start at $467 return to Melbourne with two nights accommodation or three days car hire.
Sydney costs $481 and Broome $623 for the same package.
The cheapest return fares with Qantas on the internet without any accommodation were Melbourne $430, Sydney $490, Adelaide $408 and Broome $526.
Virgin Blue commercial director David Huttner, speaking from Kuala Lumpur, said the airline would remain competitive and would respond to the Qantas fares. Virgin Blue always had cheap fares, not just when it had surplus capacity.
On Friday, Qantas announced a 20 per cent cutback in international flights because of a sharp drop in international flights.
The international capacity will be shuffled to domestic routes because the airline believes Australians will holiday at home while there is a war in Iraq. But Qantas also has seen a decline in bookings on domestic routes.
Qantas Holidays chief operating officer Simon Bernardi said the Spirit Escapes sale would stimulate interest in shorter breaks in the domestic market. "These latest packages follow a great response to our sale in late January, which demonstrated that there is a clear demand for shorter breaks in addition to longer annual holidays," Mr Bernardi said.
"Qantas Holidays is well placed to offer the best and most affordable options in this growing market, thanks to the extensive Qantas domestic network and our strong relationships with tourism operators throughout the country.
"For people visiting family and friends who don't need accommodation, we also have identically priced packages which include air fares and three days Hertz car rental."
The Qantas Holidays Spirit Escapes sale closes April 7 for travel from May 1 to June 30.
It is expected that once the war is over, Qantas will discount overseas fares.