After 2 years of closure, New Zealand's borders are finally opening up to the World with Australians being welcomed back into the country as of April 13th and the rest of the World from May 1st. This is great news and keen travellers will be excited to scratch those uncontrollably itchy feet and head overseas after 2 years without travel. It's finally time to get back out there, see the world and connect with loved ones, however there is one barrier in the way - why is it so damn expensive to fly right now?
Those of you who eager to plan your travels for 2022 will have been stunned by some eye-watering prices and brain melting stopovers. It all used to be so easy, what on earth is going on?
The major contributing factor to New Zealand's international flight issue is the lack of airlines flying to our tiny little slice of paradise. When the Corona Virus pandemic hit, the vast majority of airlines stopped flying to NZ due to border closures, travel restrictions and general pandemic madness, New Zealand lost ~90% of its flight capacity in the blink of an eye, with Air New Zealand continuing an absolute minimum amount of its routes to bring home stranded kiwis and transport freight.
As restrictions ease, tourists are welcomed back and travel becomes viable once again we have seen a slight rise in short-mid haul flights making a return to NZ, airlines such as: Fiji Airways, Qantas, Singapore Airlines and Jetstar are offering flights to kiwis once again. However longer haul flights are still a headache and a serious hit to the wallet. The lack of supply from International carriers and makes flying any kind of direct route far harder than before, longer distances and more stops equate to more expensive airfares.
However the biggest factor is the lack of competition on International routes, this is a classic case of supply and demand. Airlines have had a disastrous few years and if they are the only ones servicing a certain route with zero competition, they'll be trying to make up for a difficult few years and charge as much as possible.
You've no doubt noticed the sharp rise in fuel costs when filling up at the pump. This sharp rise in the price of crude oil has numerous contributing factors but the main being the Russian invasion of the Ukraine. This has caused a huge amount of geo-political uncertainty all over the World, which has lead to increasing inflation and interest rates, which all have a knock on effect. Russia is a significant supplier of the Worlds oil and the tariffs implemented on this oil has driven the price up for crude oil, which is used to create aviation fuel. This is yet another blow for the aviation industry and the last thing that was needed, Airlines are in no position to front these increased costs therefore they are being passed on to you the customer.
Absolutely.
All of the above seems rather gloomy and we do expect things to get worse before they get better. If you're holding out for cheap Europe flights in the next few months, we'd advise you to book right away.
However there is still lot to be hopeful for; a good number of major airlines will be returning to New Zealand from October onwards, not only will this open up numerous travel corridors once again meaning more direct routes are available. This will also provide much needed competition on flying to and from New Zealand, this competition on New Zealand flights from international airlines will bring the prices down significantly. Airlines in the USA and Europe have actually been dropping the price on their flights to lower than 2019, in order to encourage people to travel once again and we expect to see this happen in New Zealand over the next year.
Despite these tough times we've got your back here at NZ Flight club, here's a few deals from recent weeks:
Cheap flight deals is what we do here at NZ Flight Club and when the time is right, we're confident that we'll be able to get you travelling the World for cheaper than ever before thanks to our state-of-the-art cheap flight technology.
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