Whenever I hear about people talking about discounts, promotions or just cheap fares, my ears seem to stretch longer like that of an elf while filtering all other noises out automatically. They are music to my ears.
Well, the good news for all wanderers like me is that fares are expected to stay low in 2017. The Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) recently released a International Airline Activity report showing that the total number of seats available on planes have increased 11 percent to more than 4 million in November 2016 when compared to the same period last year.
Yet on the other hand, the report states that,
“The overall seat utilisation percentage (including AirAsia X, China Airlines, Emirates, Philippine Airlines, Qantas and Singapore Airlines passengers travelling through Australian ports) decreased from 80.4 per cent in November 2015 to 77.9 per cent in November 2016.”
With more seats and fewer passengers travelling in and out of Australia, what this means for 2017 is that it will be a sweet year to travel, since there will be fewer people competing for seats.
However on the flip side, airlines will face a tougher year selling seats as they will likely continue to dish out deep discounts to attract travellers this years.
