Return tickets have hit up to $20,000 ex-Australia to London, Europe or the United States over the next few months, and yet sales at the pointy end are now 3 per cent higher than pre-COVID 2019 levels, says the Flight Centre Group.The price crunch comes as travel finally picks up but international air traffic remains at less than 68 per cent of pre-COVID-19 levels globally, according to London-based analytics firm GlobalData. A full recovery of flight capacity isn’t expected until 2025.
A quick search for business class fares Sydney-London-Sydney in early to mid-July showed even where tickets were available, it was hard to fly cheaper than $17,878 aboard Singapore Airlines. Business class is back: in a nod to demand, Singapore Airlines’ Business Class SilverKris Lounge in Terminal 3 has just reopened after a $37 million upgrade.Ms Elf met last week with some of the company’s biggest clients – including banks, professional services and construction listed-firms.