How foreign airlines have kept Australia open through the pandemic
Foreign airlines have shouldered the burden of returning Australians
Of the airlines that stayed in the market, foreign carriers transported by far the most passengers, according to data from the Australian Government’s Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics (BITRE).
Between Apr-2020 and Aug-2021 (the latest month for which international arrivals data is available from BITRE), some 1.52 million passengers were transported in and out of Australia, including 618,401 inbound passengers and 902,345 outbound.
Of the total, foreign carriers transported 1.33 million passengers – or 87.5% of the total, while Australia-based airlines carried 190,589 passengers, or 12.5% of the total.
The tally was bolstered for Australia and New Zealand-based carriers by the (short-lived) open border arrangement between Australia and Zealand in 2021.
Thanks to the arcane international aviation system, the Australian airlines can't "hub" their services over a foreign point. They can only operate to and from individual destinations, making long haul operations more complex – one of the many reasons that this pandemic shock should lead to changes in the 75-year-old international rules.
Air New Zealand transported 406,812 passengers in the 17-month period between Apr-2020 and Aug-2021, including approximately 50,000 passengers who travelled under the capped flights programme.
Qatar Airways transported just over 220,000 passengers in the 17-month period between Apr-2020 and Aug-2021, according to BITRE, including some 75,223 Inbound and 144,999 outbound passengers.
Singapore Airlines handled more than 131,000 passengers in the 17-month period, and Emirates transported over 91,000 passengers.
China Southern Airlines and United Airlines handled 54,631 and 49,583 passengers, respectively.
Capped flights made the task even more burdensome financially
The challenge for carriers that remained in the market was made sterner when, based on the requirements of State governments, the Australian Government brought in tight arrival caps for international passenger flights from 04-Jul-2020. This triggered complex and onerous operational and commercial restrictions on airlines, prompting some to withdraw from the market.
But for those that remained, over the next 485 days to 31-Oct-2021, international airlines operated 10,000 capped commercial passenger flights into the major capital city airports, serving over 300,000 arriving passengers, most of whom were returning Australians, according to the Board of Airline Representatives of Australia (BARA) a membership body for airlines serving Australia. (International airlines operated 1,200 passenger flights for 57,000 arriving passengers from April-2020 to June 2020, prior to the capped flights regime).
Airlines have often operated to/from Australia with uneconomic loads, keeping vital travel lanes open for returning Australians, outbound nationals, incoming and outgoing cargo and freight, and the small number of Australians that had special exemptions to leave.
The average number of passengers on a flight – mostly widebodies with over 300 seat capacity – was just 30, which over the last two months has been driven down to 10 or less per flight.
“Throughout the pandemic international airlines operated capped passenger flights into the major capital city airports under the most challenging commercial and operating conditions. The numerous cuts to the per flight caps made by government, unilaterally and often with little notice, caused considerable stress and problems for Australians overseas and for international airlines", said Barry Abrams, Executive Director of BARA.
“International aircrews also complied with extensive infection control procedures and strict quarantine arrangements on layover between flights. Differing requirements across state jurisdictions added to the difficulties and costs faced by international airlines. Operating 10,000 flights for 300,000 passengers under such challenging circumstances is a remarkable contribution by international airlines in supporting Australia and its people”, he added.
A total of 19 airlines transported passengers in each of the 17 months between Apr-2020 and Aug-2021, and a further seven airlines operated non-passenger services (often passenger-to-cargo aircraft flights) in the period.
