Flights to Australia, why are they so dear?

G-Money

Maybe it's just me but I've been checking out flights to different places. I was a few minutes ago quoted about 670 euro for a return flight from Dublin, to Atlanta, to Vegas and back to Dublin (travelling next March/April). However when I check a bog standard return flight to Sydney (mid November this year), the cheapest quote I got was about 1150 euro. I know Australia is further than the US but does that really mean the flight has to be double the price effectively?

Perhaps I'm thinking about this too simplistically but it seems massively expensive. Having said that, I did pay about that for a return flight to Australia about 8 years ago but still, when you compare it to flights to the West Coast of the US, it does seem a lot.

Or am I just checking the wrong websites?

billybigunz

They don't really have as much price discrimination as other routes so you don't get cheap flights subsiidised as much.

People don't really travel to Australia on a whim.

schemingbohemia

Flights are 3 times the distance/time so it's not really surprising the flights are so much more expensive.
If you're booking a good bit in advance this airlines sometimes has good offers
http://www.bruneiair.com/uk/
however, it's a 'dry' airline though you are allowed bring your own booze on board.

digme

ur euro is getting close to toilet paper standard,soon you will be just wiping your arse with it,

dory

digme wrote: »

ur euro is getting close to toilet paper standard,soon you will be just wiping your arse with it,

Good cause I'm running out of British Pounds, need some new loo roll.

I've seen RTW flights for under 1000. Just spend a day or so in the other locations and as long as you want then in Oz. Also, it's coming into summer there so maybe it's high season. I see the low season is our summer on roundtheworldflihts.com

Berty

€1150 is not exactly a bad quote but every so often you will get a better quote, like the end of the sales quarter when they need to get money in the accounts to keep the airline in the air.

Check newspapers which are the best places to find flight announcements.

I paid €1050 last year in April for Perth in Australia and Sydney is further again so factor a longer more expensive flight.

You can consider flying through Bahrain to get differnet priced flights. You can fly there with Aer Lingus and onwards with a many number of carriers. My brother and family are heading that way in December and I think he is paying €4000 or so for 2 adults, 1 child and 1 infant. High price to pay I think but heck.

Anything around the €1000 mark is fine by me but my mother paid, special 7 day sale, with Singapore airlines €650 return 1.5 years ago to Perth.

We have family in Perth so always trying to find good prices.

Chinafoot

grandmaster wrote: »

I know Australia is further than the US but does that really mean the flight has to be double the price effectively?
....

when you compare it to flights to the West Coast of the US, it does seem a lot.

Distance from Dublin to Sydney is over 10k miles and takes around 24 hours.
Distance from Dublin to Los Angeles is over 5k miles and takes around 11 hours.

Why wouldn't it be double?

kaki

If you're still looking, Air China have a deal on at the moment (according to Melbourne-based daily The Age):

International fares crash as Asia airlines fight price war
ANDREW HEASLEY
May 19, 2010

FANCY flying from Australia to London for $378?

Such rock-bottom prices fly in the face of some aviation analysts' predictions that airfares would rise this year as airlines seek to recover losses from the recent global financial crisis, flu pandemics and volcanic interruptions.

AirAsia is offering one-way fares from Australia to London, through Kuala Lumpur, starting at $378 as part of a network sale in which prices start at $3 a flight.

Tiger Airways, fresh from its recent profit announcement, is vowing to keep reducing air fares in Australia and has its eyes on expanding services, possibly to destinations including New Zealand, the Pacific islands and Indonesia.

Until May 23, AirAsia is offering cut-price fares to 70 destinations, for travel between January 3 and May 8 next year, though the perennial caveats that ''seats and dates are limited'' applies.

''Tens of thousands'' of seats were available in the sale, a spokesman said.

Malaysian-based AirAsia is selling seats from Melbourne, the Gold Coast or Perth to Kuala Lumpur from $129 and from Kuala Lumpur to London (Stansted Airport) from $249 - a total of $378 one-way. The fares include all mandatory taxes and charges.

Fares from London to Australia may not be identical, as airport taxes differ, but are similarly low, the spokesman said.

Booking a seat was easier said than done yesterday. Heavy traffic on the airline's website caused it to seize.

From Kuala Lumpur, AirAsia offers $3, $9, $18 and $25 fares to other destinations in Malaysia, Indonesia, India, China, Philippines and Vietnam.

The move comes as discount airline Tiger Airways vowed to keep driving down domestic air fares while working on its expansion plans.

Tiger's chief executive Tony Davis said he was looking at routes within the five-hour flying range of the airline's fleet of Airbus A320s.

Mr Davis said routes linking Australia with Indonesia, New Zealand or the Pacific islands were being examined.

''What I'm doing is drawing a circumference around Australia,'' he told The Age.

''But what I'm not interested in doing is buying a different aircraft type to go seven hours,'' he said.

lily09

Do not fly Air China if there is anyway you can avoid it. Horrific flight experience.Some things are just worth paying that little bit more. Inedible food. One chinese film on repeat. Really rude air hostesses and tiny seats.
Just booked flights for 1020 return to Perth for Christmas (with another airline:))

G-Money

Yeah there's a few airlines I'd tend to avoid if I can. I think they'd be one of them.

I don't have any definite plans to travel to Australia anytime soon. It was just one of those things where I took a bit of a notion about going.