Australia loses two domestic routes for every new one

It’s no secret that the revolving doors of state borders have perplexed airline route reopenings during the pandemic. But what’s not so well known is that Australia has lost more routes than it has gained over the past year. In the process, a possible AUD65 billion could have been spent locally, while Aussie travellers have been confined at home.

These are among the many vital issues CAPA will be addressing at its first in-person Summit since 2020, the CAPA Australia Pacific Aviation Summit (Sydney, 08/09-Sep-2021).

There have certainly been welcome new routes within the Australian domestic market, with one or two big winners. But more domestic and regional routes have been lost through the pandemic than gained, which brings into sharp focus the effectiveness of state and federal government support arrangements and the vagaries around domestic borders.

This has left the industry with fewer city pairs or seats than before the pandemic, while the ‘rest of the Australian economy’ has largely recovered to, or ahead of, pre-pandemic levels. And in the process, a potentially massive economic windfall for the domestic tourism industry has been squandered.