Australian domestic travel recovers from the pandemic crisis. Australian Aviation, claims that domestic flights reached a staggering 89% of what they were before the pandemic. The article says these numbers were reached in April when borders reopened and people travelled for the Easter and ANZAC day long weekend.
The ACCC published a report in June, that showed that 4.5 million people travelled around Australia in April. This was the highest number of domestic travellers since the beginning of 2020 when the pandemic started.
This month, we saw another increase in airport traffic, due to the school holidays. We don’t have statistics yet, but I believe the numbers will be very high since the chaos at the airports has been great.
The problems
The high demand is a great thing for the industry, but it also brought all sorts of problems. Unfortunately, the pandemic is not over, in fact, Australia has registered a significant increase in Covid cases recently. This leads to a shortage of staff that subsequently leads to airport chaos and flight cancellations. To make things worse, the East Coast has been hit with torrential rain and destructive winds. This causes chaos not only inland, where towns have been flooded, but in the air as well. The bad weather led to ven more flight cancellations and chaos at the airport.
The future
Not only the pandemic can cause chaos and hinder travel recovery. Although it is and it will keep on playing a part in it. But there’s a much deeper crisis brewing in Australia, and the world, at the moment. And that is the economic crisis. In Australia, inflation is at a record high and the cost of living is going through the roof. With the recent interest rises, housing affordability is less and less. Inevitably, this will affect tourism and aviation. When people are struggling to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table, they won’t be planning a holiday, because they probably won’t be able to afford it.
In my view, this is a second “pandemic” hitting us hard. I am extremely happy about this recovery, although concerned about the future. What about you? Are you confident and optimistic or you are also concerned?