The flights to NZ are very expensive from all airlines, and there are no discounts/offers - like there would be even pre-pandemic.
How long will this last, are they likely to offer any kind of deals? They have tonnes of planes and staff - why not just roster all of them to NZ and offer decent discounts?
Poor answer because supply of airlines like Qantas is barely being used. They have planes still sitting on runways, and complaining to the government they can't afford to keep their staff now that jobkeeper has ended - begging for more money.
Meanwhile, they jack up prices to deter actual customers from using their badly underutilised assets and human resources?
It’s not a poor answer at all - it takes a lot of work to schedule and prep aircraft, supply chains and crew to resume massive operations like this. Likewise they know there will be huge demand so why would they need to discount at this early stage. Volume will still be low for a while so costs to run these flights will be higher than pre-COVID days for a while. They need every bit of profit they can get.
If they need every bit of profit they can get, they would put on more flights - unless you suggest that they would be running those extra flights at a loss (doubtful).
They've had 9 months to plan for this - the bubble is not unexpected.
@Starcraftmazter: They would’ve used those 9 months to carefully calculate the perfect balance of enough flights at the highest price they can get away with probably.
It’s a business, they will have planned this for the best outcome for themselves. Don’t like it? Don’t fly then.
If they need every bit of profit they can get
….then they are not going to offer substantial discounts that eat into profits.
The number of flights offered reflect predicted demand, which is currently low. Discounts come into play when there is an over supply, or in order to gain market share from competitors. Neither of these scenarios currently exist.
@DashCam AKA Rolts: You couldn't be more wrong, there is a historically unprecedented amount of demand, something which no doubt soon will be in the news.
Discounts don't cut into profit, otherwise they would never be done, they are profitable as they allow airlines to sell more product.
By your logic they wouldn't have discounted the local airfares (and I mean before the government subsidy).
The over supply scenario clearly exists because MOST of the planes and staff are not doing anything. How can you say there is not an over supply of capacity??
there is a historically unprecedented amount of demand, something which no doubt soon will be in the news.
Source? Lot of travel hesitancy from people I've had contact with, including those with massive travel credits due to Covid cancellations.
Discounts don't cut into profit, otherwise they would never be done, they are profitable as they allow airlines to sell more product.
Your view is overly simplified. Companies will discount to gain attention, market share or push a competitor's market share backwards. Ever heard of the concept of loss leader in sales campaign; I have at one stage worked in retail, and this was a common strategy.
How can you say there is not an over supply of capacity?
My niece works for Emirates, they have shed around 30% of their staff and they are still flying. Another acquaintance worked for Virgin Australia, she's now studying teaching after her position was terminated; she was not alone.
Airlines have mothballed aircraft, and not taken up leases on new planes. Don't know whether you caught the news late last year about Australian pilots learning to operate harvesters in the ag industry.
Mothballed aircraft can't be just re-fuelled and put back into service.
If there is an over supply of capacity, we wouldn't have tens of thousands of Australians still stuck overseas.
Source? Lot of travel hesitancy from people I've had contact with, including those with massive travel credits due to Covid cancellations.
Your own inner circle of contacts which likely represents 0.000001% of Australia's population is not relevant. You can clearly see it from the data of the prices going up day by day - this is done by price optimisation algorithms automatically in times of very high demand.
Your view is overly simplified. Companies will discount to gain attention, market share or push a competitor's market share backwards. Ever heard of the concept of loss leader in sales campaign; I have at one stage worked in retail, and this was a common strategy.
In the airline industry this is not true - you have a huge set of competitors and more lined up to jump in if needed, loss leading doesn't work and isn't done in this industry. It's not sustainable for a second and would lead to a quick bankruptcy.
My niece works for Emirates,
That's nice. You keep citing your own highly specific experiences but they are not relevant. If you pay attention to the news you will notice that Qantas hasn't fired a huge amount of workers they are now under pressure to pay, but can't, and likewise they don't want to fire them, and if they continue to stand them down, attrition will increase even further - creating longer term staff shortages.
Airlines have mothballed aircraft,
Which is not their preference. They still have to bear the capital costs of those aircraft and they still have some maintenance cost which increases the longer they are out of service. The financial preference is to get as many planes in the air as possible, and as quickly as possible.
Don't know whether you caught the news late last year about Australian pilots learning to operate harvesters in the ag industry.
In droves, I'm sure.
Mothballed aircraft can't be just re-fuelled and put back into service.
They can and they need to be eventually - and the sooner, the less money the airline loses.
If there is an over supply of capacity, we wouldn't have tens of thousands of Australians still stuck overseas.
That couldn't be more incorrect. The reason Australians are stuck overseas is because the government is artificially limiting the amount of people airlines are allowed to fly in. The reason they are doing this is because it's not allowed under international law to prevent citizens from entering their country - so the only way they can impose their fascist restrictions is to force airports to not allow any more than X amount of seats to be filled. The airlines cannot physically bring in more people than they are, because they are under such restrictions from the government - not because they can't or that they don't want to.
This has nothing to do with airlines, and if government allowed them, the airlines could bring all Australians home within a week or two.
I am extremely surprised that you can not see the flaw in your own logic in that by your logic all those dozens of planes now assigned to NZ could be used to bring Australians home instead. Surely if this was the case they would have already done it? There would have been a massive outcry? I can't fathom how you can possibly formulate your thoughts on this.
there is a historically unprecedented amount of demand
Really? One case of covid somewhere, everyone goes crazy and locks things down, you are then either stuck in NZ, or you can come home and spend 14 days in hotel quarantine at your expense, while having time off work. Sounds like a nightmare and something to be avoided to me.
@brendanm: To you sure, but that has nothing to do with the fact that a huge amount of people are booking the flights. Don't project your own fears on what you think 25 million people are doing.
@Starcraftmazter: Not just mine, look at the sentiment in this thread. It's also the sentiment I've seen from others in the community.
Got any references for the "huge amount of people booking flights"?
the fact that a huge amount of people are booking the flights.
Apparently this:
Your own inner circle of contacts which likely represents 0.000001% of Australia's population is not relevant.
@brendanm: Starcraftmazter just wants his discount flights to NZ. No possible explanation as to why there is an absence of discounts will suffice.
So they are going magically make flight crew appear along with other staff required to run the plane?
The sudden influx of demand
Hardly…
I probably wouldn't risk it, might end up getting stuck there.
Can think of worse places to be stuck :)
They have tonnes of planes and staff - why not just roster all of them to NZ and offer decent discounts?
“Virgin Australia won’t be offering flights until October.
The major airline said frequently changing border restrictions meant it was currently unfeasible to offer more frequent, and earlier flights across the Tasman.”
https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/virgin-new-zealand-border-…
"major airline" lol are they bigger than Jetstar or Rex nowadays?
I wonder if Rex will fly trans tasman routes eventually too
Unless you consider new zealand "regional" then maybe :P
I wouldn't consider Sydney - Melbourne a regional route, so it's entirely possible.
Who wants to fly to NZ knowing you could be put into mandatory quarantine at a cost of $3,000 per person with no warning at all? Or have to abort your holiday suddenly and compete for the few seats available to return home before the borders slam shut?
International travel is a huge gamble with big risks right now.
I would imagine there would be option to return to Australia (albeit I'm sure at a bit of a cost for re-booking your return flight, but nothing near $3000). There's no way they would be able to force you to stay in New Zealand for 14 days, especially if your trip wasn't going to be for that length of time.
No travel insurers are insuring for this possibility either (understandably so), the only one who I have found that covers anything COVID related is Covermore and that's only for if you catch COVID.
There's no way they would be able to force you to stay in New Zealand for 14 days
I'm fairly sure they did before.
Lady at work was stuck in Greece from June last yr… got back last month - cancelled flights, quarantine at both ends of the flight there and Adelaide before coming back to Melbourne..
If NZ puts you in quara then you won't have to pay.
Unsure on the way back - likely AU will make you pay, cos reasons.
Heck, you can't even go to another state, or even to your own state capital if you live regionally, without risk of being locked down/out.
Countless people would, and you can easily see that in bookings.
I have a lot of data on bookings for international holidays and let me tell you, the amount of demand in travel from AU to NZ is higher than it has ever been in history.
You can even see various news stories coming up about this like this one
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/shortage-of-hire-ca…
would like to go oneway to NZ and not come back
Nothing stopping you.
Apart from property prices which have gone utterly bonkers in New Zealand.
Yeah, worse than Aus and they’re more earthquake prone. Hope their building standards are up to scratch.
I'd only book through airlines direct if I was doing anything… travel agents are in a bad way… one in local shops closed after 33yrs few mths ago.
Imagine flying there and get done for quarantine, cop $3000 for the pleasure, then have borders to Melbourne shut, then get to Sydney and asked to quarantine again for an additional $3000. All the while burning through annual leave. All for a bit of skiing.
NZ travel very much in the realm of backpackers and visiting family for now - wouldn't risk a family holiday.
AirNZ flights one-way were in the $650 ballpark, then dropped to $350 immediately on announcement, and now are back up to $650+.
I always maintained that corona will cause flight prices to skyrocket.
It's hilarious because the 'NZ bubble' is at risk from being disrupted at any time, and all risk lies with the traveller.
I always maintained that corona will cause flight prices to skyrocket.
Depends how you define 'skyrocket'. I wouldn't apply that adjective. Certainly international airfares have increased significantly, but in historical terms it's hardly the bad old days.
And in domestic terms the BITRE statistical data shows the real indexes surged due to COVID but have declined thereafter. They're now in line with or actually lower than pre-pandemic.
I wouldn't be booking tickets right now…
Security guard in Auckland has caught COVID.
Auckland border worker tests positive for COVID-19
https://www.theage.com.au/world/oceania/auckland-border-work…
Scored a classic reward flight to ZQN and a $500 fare on the way back. Booked the weekend before they announced it.
If I get stuck there…definitely the best place to be stuck.
🎿
Classic rewards are particularly good with the flexibility they offer, though the cancellations/refunds are still imperfect (one I've received the points but not the money, another I've received the money but not the points).
Previously I was looking at other destinations for November, didn't pull the trigger and all the options disappeared overnight. Kicking myself.
I paid about 340 return to auckland from Melbourne. Not sure what prices used to be like but seemed reasonable to me. If you're flexible with dates you can find off peak seasons to travel. Personally I'm going late October.
Jetstar had a sale, so I'm in at $350, way way cheaper then the next cheapest air NZ for $700!
Simple demand vs supply. The sudden influx of demand following months of border closures to the only place that now allows international travel… Did you really need to ask this?