Article: Have Australians Stopped Flying to the USA? Here’s What the Data Says…

[dajop]

Loads have been very light - less than 50%. Depends how much the SA government entices them

Presumably as they are selling tickets for next summer, the SA government support spans more than just the first year.

 

[transpactraveller]

QF did run an extra syd-lhr A380 on 7-Mar as QF331. With another A380 they could do this more often especially if fewer ME flights arriving into LHR possibly tempoarily freeing up slots.

Looks like QF331 is going again this weekend as well

 

[jrfsp]

Adjustments to Edelweiss' long-haul program

Denver and Seattle in the USA will no longer be served, and frequencies to Las Vegas will be reducedMuscat and Salalah in Oman will not be served in the winter flight schedule 2026/27The background to this is declining demand, geopolitical developments and the impact on fuel prices

newsroom.flyedelweiss.com

Definitely signs of softening demand to the US

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Adjustments to Edelweiss' long-haul program

Denver and Seattle in the USA will no longer be served, and frequencies to Las Vegas will be reducedMuscat and Salalah in Oman will not be served in the winter flight schedule 2026/27The background to this is declining demand, geopolitical developments and the impact on fuel prices

newsroom.flyedelweiss.com

Definitely signs of softening demand to the US

There's softening demand to everywhere right now.

 

[ausfox]

Softening demand but no softening of fares.

 

[Aeryn]

Softening demand but no softening of fares.

Prior to the war, US fares from Australia were trending lower. There were SYD-LAX even on QF for $1k that's bordering on pre-Covid pricing.

Now with desire of most to avoid the ME, some people are going the long way round Via the US to the EU and so the restricted capacity is driving up prices again. Also cheap options like FJ having fuel issues and cutting routes drives up prices for those still flying to US.

 

[wandering_fred]

LONE4
Oz-South Africa-Europe-USA-Oz
Maybe too much wandering but it is a one year ticket
Greatly assists the budget when wandering
Fred

 

[BCons]

Sitting in SQ Syd F lounge listening to a phone convo, both sides clucking about the war and how it’s making travel soo arduous. The person in the lounge (well within earshot, not trying to be discrete) is going to NY the long way - via Sin. I spose she could be taking the direct flt from Sin but I fear she’s going via Fra, because she can do that in F.. It’s tough alright.

A small sample point of Intl travel - ppl don’t seem to be yet flying less - Syd SQ F lounge has at least a dozen pax right now - only 6 will be on SQ222 in suites, possibly one or two pps solitaires and the rest wud need to be *A golds from other flts. At 1330h there are very few other *A flts out in the next few hrs. Havnt been here a huge lot but nvr seen it so busy.

 

[AuSammy]

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid0QL1bFcPLkbkYdn7z6MfjCkDH3qCvMxaaToZeBGSYrR77thf9VHpuvESZ7ssdy49bl&id=100064620046507

 

[dajop]

For those who don't want to expose themselves to Whingebook ...

2026 World Cup: Empty rooms & Fifa cancellations - US hotels fear washout

The 2026 Fifa World Cup was supposed to provide a tourism boom for the United States, but now the fear is that may never materialise.

www.bbc.com

 

[justinbrett]

For those who don't want to expose themselves to Whingebook ...

2026 World Cup: Empty rooms & Fifa cancellations - US hotels fear washout

The 2026 Fifa World Cup was supposed to provide a tourism boom for the United States, but now the fear is that may never materialise.

www.bbc.com

When they’re charging US$150 for a coughtty local train from Manhattan to the stadium, I’m not surprised.

 

[jrfsp]

https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/25/travel/analysis-tourism-fewer-international-visitors-2025-vis

Australian visitors down 66k, Canada leading the decline unsurprisingly

 

[SydneySwan]

https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/25/travel/analysis-tourism-fewer-international-visitors-2025-vis

Australian visitors down 66k, Canada leading the decline unsurprisingly

Really who is surprised at this?

 

[justinbrett]

Really who is surprised at this?

Down 6%? Thought it would be more. 6% is hardly newsworthy.

 

[SeatBackForward]

Doing my bit, am on the once/twice-a-year jaunt to the US again next month. The last few trips to the US have basically been AIRPORT>HOTEL>EVENT>HOTEL>AIRPORT. I always feel uncomfortable in the USA and am always glad to return home.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Really who is surprised at this?

Well the numbers are down globally

 

[AuSammy]

Down 6%? Thought it would be more. 6% is hardly newsworthy.

Dropped 6%on previous, but down significantly more than expectations/forecast.

 

[justinbrett]

Dropped 6%on previous, but down significantly more than expectations/forecast.

Previous was up 16%. 6% is more than expectations? This thread suggests otherwise.

 

[levelnine]

As I have repeatedly stated throughout this thread, the trend has been getting progressively worse since late 2025. 2025 statistics will therefore only tell a small part of the story. Anyone can check the I-94 data themselves.

April visitors from Australia were down 14.1% YOY.

2026 YTD figures are down 8.8%.

 

[dajop]

April visitors from Australia were down 14.1% YOY.

March and April are never good months to compare YOY due to the variable timing of Easter. In 2025 Good Friday was on 18th April. in 2026, the 3rd April which could mean more March travel this year. If you combine the arrivals data for two months, this year down 10% YOY which is closer to the overall average for YTD (April down 14%, March just down 4%), but of course still tells a similar story.