Wirraway
6th Jun 2004, 08:03
Sat "Weekend Australian"
Something in the air
Is flying too cheap? As carriers continue to cut ticket prices, a bloodbath looms, writes Peter Needham
AIR fares are down and air travel is up. The two tend to go hand in hand, usually accompanied by more seats on the routes concerned. In Australia, Virgin Blue is duelling hard with Qantas offshoot Jetstar. Similar airline tussles are taking place across the Tasman and throughout Europe, two of the most popular regions for Australian outbound travellers.
Seat capacity on the Tasman route has grown by almost 25 per cent in the past six months and more seats are on the way. Ticket prices on the route dived by about 20 per cent over the summer, producing ripples on both sides of the Tasman. Visits by New Zealanders to Australia climbed by 31 per cent in March and results in the other direction have New Zealand tourism operators dancing on air.
"Australia, our largest market, increased by 29 per cent in April," enthuses George Hickton, chief executive of Tourism New Zealand. "Along with the UK -- our second-largest market -- Australia has been our mainstay over the past 12 months. The biggest challenge is to ensure we are not complacent, and that we keep developing and improving our product offering." Air New Zealand is keeping pace. From early July, it will boost flights from Australia to New Zealand to 125 a week, an extra 100,000 seats annually. Virgin Blue's trans- Tasman wing, Pacific Blue, is competing with Qantas, Air New Zealand, Emirates , Royal Brunei, Lan Chile and Thai International -- a volatile mix almost certain to keep air fares low. Qantas will launch a new route, Adelaide to Auckland, this December. Air New Zealand has added direct flights from Melbourne to Queenstown, slashing fares by about 40 per cent for the ski season.
Short-term specials from Qantas have included one-way flights from Sydney to Auckland, Christchurch or Wellington from $210. You can fly one-way from Melbourne to Christchurch for about $155 on Pacific Blue. The Kiwi ski season is looking good, with early snowfalls around Queenstown, the promise of more snow and the Australian dollar holding firm.
Recent fuel surcharges have failed to take the shine off cheaper air fares. Fliers should continue to benefit for as long as the discounts -- and the airlines -- hold out.
In Europe, low-cost, no-frills carriers have taken off with a velocity that has surprised even US aviation analysts. Not that all newcomers prosper. An Irish airline, JetGreen, collapsed recently, leaving about 400 customers stranded in Spain. It had sold fares for as little as E1 (about $1.70) and it flew for just one week. JetGreen apologised for its early demise but advised customers it would make no refunds -- they should claim on insurance.
Other recent casualties have included British carrier Duo, which went bust in May, leaving 1000 passengers stranded, Irish regional airline Jetmagic and Finnish no-frills operator Flying Finn. Gloomier market analysts predict that the 50 or so low-cost airlines plying European skies could be slashed eventually by market forces to about five.
Many low-cost carriers are thriving. Britain's EasyJet is locked in a seemingly endless struggle with Ireland-based arch-rival Ryanair, whose boss Michael O'Leary has declared he does not care about the airline's share price as long as it wins a price war on European routes.
Ryanair carried 51 per cent more passengers in March this year than in the same month last year. O'Leary forecasts this northern winter will produce "the bloodbath to end all bloodbaths" on the air fare front. Asked about the effect of this on shareholders, who have seen the airline's shares plunge 40 per cent this year, O'Leary was quoted by Britain's Daily Telegraph as replying: "I own more of them the shares than anyone else. They can join the queue behind me. We are in a fare war and we are going to win it. If they are not happy they can always sell them." Shareholders cringe but the travelling public loves it. Visits abroad by Britons have trebled in the past three years and flying within Europe has become so cheap that long-established alternatives -- such as rail, ferries and the Eurostar Channel tunnel service -- are all suffering. The number of cars crossing the channel on ferries has dropped from 5.9million in 1997 to 4.5million last year. Peeved ferry operators are pressing Britain's advertising standards watchdog to prevent airlines advertising deals as free if customers face compulsory charges such as taxes. Taxes may be all the passenger ends up paying.
The mood in Europe is "Why not fly?" A natty little website has emerged -- tinyurl.co.uk/ryanairmse -- dedicated to comparing prices on Ryanair flights. A drop-down menu allows you to restrict your search to flights costing under pound stg. 25 ($64), pound stg. 10 or even pound stg. 5. Flights are available at a week's notice between London Luton and Dublin for pound stg. 19.99, or from Gatwick for a little more. Seats are on sale from London Stanstead to Berlin for pound stg. 4.99 .
Generally, as with all low-cost carriers, the earlier you book, the cheaper the seat. As well as making major destinations more accessible, cheap flights have opened up a host of secondary European destinations such as Haugesund, Pescara, Esbjerg and Klagenfurt. Travellers are advised, however, to check that flights don't land at a regional airport up to 100km from their planned destination.
Other websites, such as whichbudget.com and cheapflights.co.uk, list a veritable cornucopia of cheap fares, including charter options. Increasingly, Aussie budget travellers to Europe are taking advantage of such cheap-airfare sites to zip around Europe as their parents did in Kombi Vans -- only a lot faster.
Europe for penny pinchers
EUROPEAN airlines expect the recent induction into the European Union of Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic and Estonia to boost traffic by at least 20 per cent a year.
The biggest expansion in EU history is having an effect already, says Mitch Wojciech Ihnatowicz, Sydney-based representative manager for LOT Polish Airlines. "Last year, when LOT joined the Star Alliance, we saw a 40 per cent increase in passenger numbers from Australia to Poland. This year will be even better because of the Olympics, the European soccer championships and the extension of the EU." Low-cost carriers are blossoming in the new Europe. More than 12 serve the region already and fares to eastern Europe on established carriers such as British Airways and Lufthansa are a fraction of what they used to be.
If you're holidaying in Britain, intra-European flights are highly accessible. Flying to Slovenia? Maybe try EasyJet's Luton to Ljubljana service. Latvia? Air Baltic flies direct from Heathrow to Riga (and from Manchester and Birmingham). Fancy tucking into borjuporkolt stew beside Hungary's River Tisza (where Attila the Hun died after his wedding night)? EasyJet has flights to Budapest from Luton starting at about $80. Polish carrier Air Polonia flies to Warsaw, Gdansk, Poznan and Katowice from Stansted.
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Something in the air
Is flying too cheap? As carriers continue to cut ticket prices, a bloodbath looms, writes Peter Needham
AIR fares are down and air travel is up. The two tend to go hand in hand, usually accompanied by more seats on the routes concerned. In Australia, Virgin Blue is duelling hard with Qantas offshoot Jetstar. Similar airline tussles are taking place across the Tasman and throughout Europe, two of the most popular regions for Australian outbound travellers.
Seat capacity on the Tasman route has grown by almost 25 per cent in the past six months and more seats are on the way. Ticket prices on the route dived by about 20 per cent over the summer, producing ripples on both sides of the Tasman. Visits by New Zealanders to Australia climbed by 31 per cent in March and results in the other direction have New Zealand tourism operators dancing on air.
"Australia, our largest market, increased by 29 per cent in April," enthuses George Hickton, chief executive of Tourism New Zealand. "Along with the UK -- our second-largest market -- Australia has been our mainstay over the past 12 months. The biggest challenge is to ensure we are not complacent, and that we keep developing and improving our product offering." Air New Zealand is keeping pace. From early July, it will boost flights from Australia to New Zealand to 125 a week, an extra 100,000 seats annually. Virgin Blue's trans- Tasman wing, Pacific Blue, is competing with Qantas, Air New Zealand, Emirates , Royal Brunei, Lan Chile and Thai International -- a volatile mix almost certain to keep air fares low. Qantas will launch a new route, Adelaide to Auckland, this December. Air New Zealand has added direct flights from Melbourne to Queenstown, slashing fares by about 40 per cent for the ski season.
Short-term specials from Qantas have included one-way flights from Sydney to Auckland, Christchurch or Wellington from $210. You can fly one-way from Melbourne to Christchurch for about $155 on Pacific Blue. The Kiwi ski season is looking good, with early snowfalls around Queenstown, the promise of more snow and the Australian dollar holding firm.
Recent fuel surcharges have failed to take the shine off cheaper air fares. Fliers should continue to benefit for as long as the discounts -- and the airlines -- hold out.
In Europe, low-cost, no-frills carriers have taken off with a velocity that has surprised even US aviation analysts. Not that all newcomers prosper. An Irish airline, JetGreen, collapsed recently, leaving about 400 customers stranded in Spain. It had sold fares for as little as E1 (about $1.70) and it flew for just one week. JetGreen apologised for its early demise but advised customers it would make no refunds -- they should claim on insurance.
Other recent casualties have included British carrier Duo, which went bust in May, leaving 1000 passengers stranded, Irish regional airline Jetmagic and Finnish no-frills operator Flying Finn. Gloomier market analysts predict that the 50 or so low-cost airlines plying European skies could be slashed eventually by market forces to about five.
Many low-cost carriers are thriving. Britain's EasyJet is locked in a seemingly endless struggle with Ireland-based arch-rival Ryanair, whose boss Michael O'Leary has declared he does not care about the airline's share price as long as it wins a price war on European routes.
Ryanair carried 51 per cent more passengers in March this year than in the same month last year. O'Leary forecasts this northern winter will produce "the bloodbath to end all bloodbaths" on the air fare front. Asked about the effect of this on shareholders, who have seen the airline's shares plunge 40 per cent this year, O'Leary was quoted by Britain's Daily Telegraph as replying: "I own more of them the shares than anyone else. They can join the queue behind me. We are in a fare war and we are going to win it. If they are not happy they can always sell them." Shareholders cringe but the travelling public loves it. Visits abroad by Britons have trebled in the past three years and flying within Europe has become so cheap that long-established alternatives -- such as rail, ferries and the Eurostar Channel tunnel service -- are all suffering. The number of cars crossing the channel on ferries has dropped from 5.9million in 1997 to 4.5million last year. Peeved ferry operators are pressing Britain's advertising standards watchdog to prevent airlines advertising deals as free if customers face compulsory charges such as taxes. Taxes may be all the passenger ends up paying.
The mood in Europe is "Why not fly?" A natty little website has emerged -- tinyurl.co.uk/ryanairmse -- dedicated to comparing prices on Ryanair flights. A drop-down menu allows you to restrict your search to flights costing under pound stg. 25 ($64), pound stg. 10 or even pound stg. 5. Flights are available at a week's notice between London Luton and Dublin for pound stg. 19.99, or from Gatwick for a little more. Seats are on sale from London Stanstead to Berlin for pound stg. 4.99 .
Generally, as with all low-cost carriers, the earlier you book, the cheaper the seat. As well as making major destinations more accessible, cheap flights have opened up a host of secondary European destinations such as Haugesund, Pescara, Esbjerg and Klagenfurt. Travellers are advised, however, to check that flights don't land at a regional airport up to 100km from their planned destination.
Other websites, such as whichbudget.com and cheapflights.co.uk, list a veritable cornucopia of cheap fares, including charter options. Increasingly, Aussie budget travellers to Europe are taking advantage of such cheap-airfare sites to zip around Europe as their parents did in Kombi Vans -- only a lot faster.
Europe for penny pinchers
EUROPEAN airlines expect the recent induction into the European Union of Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic and Estonia to boost traffic by at least 20 per cent a year.
The biggest expansion in EU history is having an effect already, says Mitch Wojciech Ihnatowicz, Sydney-based representative manager for LOT Polish Airlines. "Last year, when LOT joined the Star Alliance, we saw a 40 per cent increase in passenger numbers from Australia to Poland. This year will be even better because of the Olympics, the European soccer championships and the extension of the EU." Low-cost carriers are blossoming in the new Europe. More than 12 serve the region already and fares to eastern Europe on established carriers such as British Airways and Lufthansa are a fraction of what they used to be.
If you're holidaying in Britain, intra-European flights are highly accessible. Flying to Slovenia? Maybe try EasyJet's Luton to Ljubljana service. Latvia? Air Baltic flies direct from Heathrow to Riga (and from Manchester and Birmingham). Fancy tucking into borjuporkolt stew beside Hungary's River Tisza (where Attila the Hun died after his wedding night)? EasyJet has flights to Budapest from Luton starting at about $80. Polish carrier Air Polonia flies to Warsaw, Gdansk, Poznan and Katowice from Stansted.
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