Australia to revive coronavirus-wrecked tourism industry with 800,000 half-price airfares
- Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the discounted fares are designed to help tourism-dependent regions and should support airlines and hotels
- Qantas Airways said the subsidised tickets scheme allows it to take more aircraft out of storage to prepare for the opening of international borders
To run from April 1 to July 31, the discounted fares are designed to help tourism-dependent regions and should support airlines, hotels and hospitality venues, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in a statement.
The package also includes further support for the international aviation industry, and will expand a government-backed loan programme to small and medium-sized businesses.
Australia’s domestic and international aviation industry has been badly damaged by the pandemic, even as the nation has managed to restrict the waves of infections that have roiled Europe and the US.
While the government has provided billions in direct economic stimulus to help keep the economy afloat, it sees the need to deliver additional support as programmes such as JobKeeper – which subsidises businesses to keep employees – wind down at the end of the month.
The economy powered into 2021, with gross domestic product jumping 3.1 per cent in the final three months of last year from the prior quarter. Yet, the support package is a shot in the arm to an aviation industry shattered by coronavirus-related travel restrictions.
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Qantas Airways, which is cutting at least 8,500 jobs, lost about A$11 billion (US$8.6 billion) in revenue to the pandemic last year alone, more than half its normal annual sales. Its shares were up 2.9 per cent at 10.52am in Sydney trading, while travel firm Webjet Ltd. gained 3.1 per cent.
The national carrier said the government package, which includes “direct support” for 7,500 Qantas employees impacted by international border closures, allows it to take more aircraft out of storage to prepare for the opening of international borders, Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce said on Thursday.
Domestically, the cut-price tickets will be available on 57 routes in Australia. “This package for us ticks all the boxes,” Joyce said.
Smaller rival Virgin Australia Airlines is under new ownership after collapsing in 2020. Global air travel isn’t expected to fully recover until 2024.
Morrison said on Thursday that it was too early to confirm overseas travel would resume by October. Tourism operator Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd. said the package was “very small, very meagre” and was unlikely to help until international arrivals are allowed.
“Keeping the domestic borders open and getting the international borders open as soon as possible” was the only way to turn around tourism, the company’s Managing Director Graham Turner said in a Nine Network interview.
