Qantas has announced a 4 per cent boost to the price of its economy fares in an email to its agency partners.
This update impacts base fares across Qantas’ entire domestic network.
1000 Mile Travel Group travel agent, Ivona Siniarska, posted the announcement on LinkedIn, along with a condemnation of the price boost.
“Absolutely baffling that they would be increasing their fares even further while popularity is at an all-time low,” Siniarska wrote.
Adjusted fares will be effective for sale and travel from Thursday 29 September 2022. Qantas said that bookings at the current rates must be ticketed on or before 28 September 2022.
A Qantas spokesperson said that the price increase was in relation to higher fuel prices. The flying kangaroo’s fuel cost for FY23 is expected to be $5.0 billion, about $1billion more than 2019, which has been driven by a approximate 60 per cent increase in fuel prices compared to FY19.
The spokesperson also outlined that the increase is coming off historically low fares, as outlined by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in a recent media release.
“After about 18 months of historically low airfares, the cost of domestic flying has risen sharply in response to strong demand, temporary capacity reductions and very high jet fuel prices,” ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said earlier this month.
Alongside this, Qantas’ budget carrier, Jetstar, has faced a slew of cancellations over the past week as the budget airline operates with three of its 11 Boeing 787 Dreamliners out of action.
This is an improvement on the beginning of the month, when the airline was missing five of its Dreamliners as engineering and operational issues continue to plague the network.
“Our Boeing 787 fleet has recently been impacted by a number of unexpected issues requiring engineering work, including damage caused by debris on the runway and multiple lightning strikes and bird strikes, which has impacted our international network,” a Jetstar spokesperson told the Sydney Morning Herald.
The spokesperson also said the airline is committing to “re-accommodate” passengers on other services or with other carriers.
Two Sydney to Honolulu services and one Sydney to Denpasar flight have been cancelled since Saturday, while another Sydney-Denpasar flight was delayed 24 hours last week. This follows other delays last week and a six-hour delay on a Tuesday morning flight to Denpasar.
Jetstar also faces troubles with its Melbourne to Changi service, with every service facing a delay or cancellation since August. The airline’s weekly midday service to Singapore was cancelled on Monday and the same service was delayed by six hours, as was its mid-morning JQ8401.
The budget carrier’s grounded fleet includes a 787 that was hit by lightning in May and another that was struck by lightning on its way to Cairns over the weekend. The third plane remains out of action due to an electrical maintenance check.
Jetstar has offered passengers impacted by cancellations and significant delays a flight credit, an alternate flight or a refund, according to the airline’s spokesperson. The airline predicts its grounded aircraft will be back in action by the end of this week.
“Unfortunately, with fewer international airlines operating, and the school holidays there are very few seats available to reaccommodate customers, but our teams right across the business are working through all options to get them on their way as quickly as possible,” the spokesperson added.
