Airlines Slash Fares By Up To 65 Per Cent
The Age
Monday December 21, 1992
Discount air tickets that slash some fares by up to 65 per cent go on sale today.
Both Australian Airlines and Ansett will offer the cheap fares, which apply to travel between January and mid-February but only on some routes around eastern Australia.
The heaviest discount is on the full economy fare from Melbourne to Brisbane. From 4 January to 15 February, both airlines will offer a limited number of seats on the route for $259 return.
Similar savings will be available on return flights between other capital cities.
The discounts come during a quiet period for the airlines when there are large numbers of empty seats after the New Year until business travel resumes in mid-February.
Mr Tony Harrington, a spokesman for Australian Airlines, gave these examples of return fares: Melbourne-Hobart, $199, a discount of 54per cent; Melbourne-Launceston, $179, 52 per cent; Melbourne-Adelaide, $169, 62 per cent; Melbourne-Canberra, $149, 61 per cent; and Melbourne-Sydney, $169, 65 per cent.
Similar discounts are available with Ansett.
News of the discounting coincided with a Prices Surveillance Authority report that says that the average cost of flying in Australia fell by four per cent in the September quarter.
In its latest air-fare monitoring report, the authority said the return of Compass Airlines to the domestic market, with some economy fares below those offered by the other operators, brought down average fares. The fall was despite moves by the main airlines to raise economy fares on six important routes.
When Compass returned to the skies on 31 August, it introduced some fares up to 50 per cent below those offered by Ansett and Australian Airlines, the authority said.
But the authority's acting chairman, Dr David Cousins, said it was too early to assess the longer-term impact of Compass on the interstate market.
While average fares on most routes fell, there was an increase of more than 10 per cent in the number of passengers flying during the previous quarter.
© 1992 The Age
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