Huge drop in international economy airfares revealed
Airfares to some of the most popular tourist destinations have dropped over the past year according to new data released by Flight Centre.
The Australian agency revealed that average price of an international economy airfare sold in Australia has dropped by 12.8 per cent.
The top three destinations with the most significant drop in prices include Indonesia at 21.01 per cent, New Zealand with 13.03 per cent and the US at 12.45 per cent.
The UK has seen a decrease of 8.05 per cent and popular European destinations like France, Germany and Spain down 7.91 per cent, 6.9 per cent and 6.03 per cent, respectively.
The cost of flights to Thailand has also gone down by 3.84 per cent.
The figures are based on a comparison of the cost of flights between January and March last year and the same period this year.
“In fantastic news for travellers the latest data shows the average cost of an international airfare is down almost 13 per cent when compared to this time last year,” Flight Centre global managing director Andrew Stark told news.com.au.
“What that means in real figures is that an economy return airfare between Sydney and Bali would’ve cost on average $1010 this time last year, now it will now set you back under $800.”
He attributed these changes to the increased competition and capacity.
“It’s vital that there is active competition between the airlines and the more we see of it, the more likely we are to see cheaper airfares, more destination options and a better experience for consumers.”
Qantas has also recently announced that they will be increasing the number of flights to Singapore and India, with flights from Sydney to Singapore set to increase from 14 to 17 return flights a week, and Sydney to Bengaluru from five a week to seven.
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