LOWER fares on direct flights to Australia are in store following the granting of rights to Virgin Blue’s new international subsidiary, V Australia, to operate flights to South Africa.
“From V Australia’s perspective, the airline will be providing great competition on all routes it plans to operate, starting with the trans-Pacific routes, and has already proved competitive in terms of airfares so it would be safe to assume that V Australia would also offer competitive fares on other routes,” says spokesperson, Amanda Bolger.
Five services per week have been granted to V Australia, three of which are immediately available for use while the remaining two will become available in October next year. V Australia has to commence the flights between Johannesburg and Sydney by October 31, 2009.
The Australian government’s International Air Services Commission says the Australia-South Africa route has been characterised by limited competition for some time, with the only direct operators being Qantas and SAA. Third-country carriers, says the commission, don’t provide adequate competition because of the long flying times.
“Until recently, all of the capacity available to South African and Australian airlines was being operated by Qantas and SAA. Traffic levels on the route have been growing. These factors combined have meant rising load factors on the route. Taking all of these factors together, there has been little pressure on the incumbent carriers to discount fares significantly, either to deal with competition or to attract additional traffic,” the commission found.
Tourism Australia’s June arrival statistics report a 9% year-on-year increase in the number of South Africans travelling to Australia (658 000), showing an 8% increase in the first six months of this year already.
Extra capacity has also been granted to Qantas, giving the airline two extra weekly frequencies. The first will be operating by December and the second from April 2009, which will give it a daily service between Sydney and Johannesburg.
The commission says the additional capacity and introduction of V Australia will create a substantially more competitive environment on this route. “This should result in significantly improved benefits to the travelling public through increased fare competition, choice of carrier and higher frequency.”
Meanwhile, SA Tourism also welcomes the possibility of a new carrier on the route, saying it will “make a huge difference”. Bangu Masisi, Australia gm, says more and more people are struggling to find direct flights and that some have to travel via third countries because capacity is tight. “With V Australia set to launch flights next October, prices could fall and offer more direct options for travellers.”
Australian publication, e-Travel Blackboard, reported that Virgin Group ceo, Syndey Brett Godfrey, said: “South Africa won’t happen immediately, even though access has been granted so quickly”, adding that there are no plans and no set dates as yet.
V Australia will only take delivery of its first three aircraft, B777-300ERs, by the end of the year, with another arriving in April and October next year.
