Soon we will not be able to afford to fly internationally

[ASEAN NOW News]

Suddenly regulations restricting us to travel abroad have been lifted and everyone wants to pack a suitcase and fly somewhere.

 

But as I am sure you have read, although the travel restrictions maybe gone, the airline industry is struggling to cope.

 

Airlines that laid off large percentages of their workforce are struggling to get them back or recruit more staff.

 

Airports are also trying to cope but many need more ground staff including baggage handlers and security staff.

 

Those who are working are exhausted having to work longer hours with fewer back up colleagues.

On Spanish airport managed to recruit more security staff only to find that 90% did not return to work on their second shift as they found the pace too much.

 

Surging Airfares

 

Airfares have risen in the last several months, with customers reporting hikes within hours, as summer travel demand booms after two years of Covid-19.

 

A media representative for budget airline Vietjet said fuel accounts for around 40 percent of operating costs.

 

She added that when fuel prices crossed $100 per barrel, airlines’ operating costs increased by 50 percent.

 

 

International airfares have risen by 25-30 percent, with the HCMC-South Korea and HCMC-San Francisco routes recording prices of VND10-13 million and VND41-45 million, respectively.

 

It is anticipated that Thailand’s aviation market is likely to be “the most active” in Asia along with Singapore which have also followed the relaxation of entry regulations.

 

However, the growing demand for air travel is being offset by fallout from the war between Russia and Ukraine, the CAAT chief said.

 

The rising cost of fuel is adding to airlines’ costs and would likely force them to raise airfares in the second quarter of this year.

 

Crazy Price Rises

 

The urge to travel by a global population coming out of the pandemic and lockdowns is gaining momentum.

 

This coupled with the fuel hikes has made airlines look at the budgets and schedules and inevitably we the passengers must pay more.

 

Only a few months ago it was possible to book a return ticket from Bangkok to London Gatwick for THB19,000 return with Scoot, the Singapore-owned budget airline.

 

Now if you wish to book a return ticket with Scoot for travel in July the fare quoted online is THB31,400.

 

Hardly a budget rate anymore!

 

According to the online booking system Kayak, the cheapest flights out of London to Hanoi were flying with Three different airlines with three stopovers at US$1,399.

 

For US$1,903 you could fly with Vietnam Airlines but again with two stopovers.

 

In the past, I have flown with Qatar Airways to London via Doha for around US$833 but their fares have jumped too, and they will be restricting flights through Doha in the winter when the airport will be jam packed with World Cup football fans and teams arriving.

 

The US fares up by 50%

 

More Americans are also taking to the skies this summer than there are available plane seats, driving up ticket prices as airlines grapple with surging fuel costs, staffing challenges and smaller fleets.

 

Airfares at American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines — the three largest domestic carriers — shot up nearly 50% for the week ending May 23 compared to a year ago, according to an analysis by Cowen, a financial services firm.

 

It is also expensive to go by road for domestic trips, with petrol at an all-time high, so perhaps the answer is to head for the railway stations.

 

If you like an adventure, I suppose you could take the train from Hanoi and get a train to Kunming and then take the trans-Siberian express to Moscow and trains to London.

 

However, that routing at the moment is a no-no as Russia is at war!!!

 

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[BritManToo]

Until i can fly to Cambodia/Vietnam for 1,000bht again, I won't be going.

I suppose I could take the bus to Siem Reap.

But there's still the problem of unnecessary insurance to return to Thailand......... has that gone yet?

[hotandsticky]

7 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Until i can fly to Cambodia/Vietnam for 1,000bht again, I won't be going.

I suppose I could take the bus to Siem Reap.

But there's still the problem of unnecessary insurance to return to Thailand......... has that gone yet?

Going 1st July.

[ezzra]

The world is in a grip of a turmoil and not only in respect to travel, with everything, owing to the Covid aftermath and it wake, the war in the Ukraine, China quarantines of most of it people in order to stop and eradicate  the spread of Covid, shortage of food products and fuel and on and on and on...

[GammaGlobulin]

If Man were meant to fly, God would have provided wings.