Whether going to the other side of the country or the other side of the world, travelling is a dream that many of us share. As sweet as the dream is, the bitter reality, more often than not, is that we just don’t have the time or money to travel. But is the dream forever doomed to remain a dream, or should you start packing your bags just in case?
Considering recent trends, the dream could be much closer to reality than you think. As of 2016, international airline fees are at the lowest they have been in 30 years.
The International Air Transport Association reported airfares around the globe fell around 12% in US dollars last year.
IBISWorld Senior Aviation Industry Analyst, Tristan Williams also forecasted airfares to drop further this year, thanks to on-going competition from low-cost airlines.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Consumer Price Index from June 2016, there was a 5.3% rise in international holiday travel and accommodation in the last 12 months.
This data is further corroborated by passenger movement from airports in capital cities around the country.
Using data from data.gov.au, airports in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney saw a steady increase in departures both domestic and internationally, since 2010.
[infogram id=”a15fd152-08df-43e0-87d2-cbdd47c13366″]NOTE: This data set does not show complete data from 2016, it only represents the first half of the year.
Looking at just international departure numbers tells the same story as well. In Sydney and Melbourne, between 2014 and 2015, there was an increase of around 270,000 and 410,000 more departures respectively.
Brisbane airports echoed these results, however with a smaller increase, of around 160,000 people.
[infogram id=”8f957467-ae15-4f34-b42e-2952175be3ef”]Jacob Koehler, a first year aeronautical engineering student at RMIT was one person who took advantage of the decreasing airfare costs.
After graduating from high school in the Northern Territory in 2014, he took a gap year during which he enjoyed a month long holiday in Europe.
He travelled throughout Europe, travelling to England, Germany, Scotland and Wales.
In preparation for his solo trip, Jacob saved around $8000.
“I started a year beforehand.” he said.
“Although I only ended spending half of what I saved because I was saving for university the year after at the same time.”
“I was working multiple jobs for a little bit as well. I helped with learning support at my old school for a term. But it was mostly just childcare for the actual year.”
Looking at data for just domestic departures mirrors the data shown by international departure statistics.
In most cases there was a drop in numbers between 2010 and 2011, but once again Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney show steady increases in the number of domestic departures.
[infogram id=”89165bcf-a6cf-4489-9eb6-b48b37982f31″]Put plain and simple. More people are travelling, domestic and international, more than ever.
Once again, greater competition has meant that airlines are forced to lower their prices to get your ticket.
Add cheaper fuel prices to that mix, and suddenly airlines are able to save more, and by extent you can too.
One example is back in July this year, when Jetstar were offering flights to Darwin for $115.
Granted, most flights to Darwin are awful, red-eye flights; but I’d much rather pay $115 for one than paying $200.
For comparison, I tried searching for a flight while I was writing to see the price difference.
I searched for the lowest price around the 7th of December (the date of my flight) and the cheapest was still on the 7th, but the price had increased to $150.
As for other prices around that day, if one felt like splurging, there were flights on the 6th for $264.
And with a recent decision by the reserve bank effectively ending credit card surcharges, we might be seeing prices drop even just a little bit more.
So back to my first question. Should you pack your bags for a holiday? Like all things, if you keep your eyes open and your mind sharp, you can snag a deal you can only dream of.
I believe you can fly… for cheaper than a few years ago.
