Domestic passenger numbers: no growth since 2019

[Q Class Plebeian]

The Christmas /new year prices for flights are upon us, peak time for family/holiday travel.I wonder given the fall in numbers if the usual Boxing day and new year sales by Qantas and Virgin will offer much of a discount.
I am looking to travel regionally (self funded) in the new year as my destination is not a holiday spot prices remain high.

 

[Melburnian1]

I've been flying Cbr-Syd weekly for a medical trial, so booking and paying for my own travel. so I've tended to revert to Virgin as that trip can be mega pricey for a 50 minute ride. The little Link Saabs are packed solid both ways, 6am flights, mid-morning, arvo and evening.

Finally got a QF up to Syd this week, for once they were competitive. Embraer jet, newish looking. I grabbed row 22 as wasn't in a hurry to get to the trial and like windows. Getting on, no one went further back than me. It was empty. And that was the first flight.
Previous week, first flight on Virgin, packed full.
Much smaller aeroplanes, admittedly.

One QFd CBR-SYD flight I looked at earlier tonight was about two hours late, presumably due to storms in Sydney.

This destroys any time saving compared to the Murrays and FlixBus road coaches (c. three hours) or even the much more pleasant, but slower, NSW TrainLink XPlorer railcars (c. four hours).

CBR-SYD survives because of public servants, lobbyists and other passengers, the latter often making international connections (or to Oz destinations not served nonstop from CBR). Provided the road coaches are perceived as reliable, over time they'll continue to steal former air passengers.

And the Federal government is providing $100 million for (minor) upgrades to the railway, most useful between Queanbeyan and Goulburn where the train is pretty slow (though scenic through the Molongo gorge).

 

[Saab34]

The Christmas /new year prices for flights are upon us, peak time for family/holiday travel.I wonder given the fall in numbers if the usual Boxing day and new year sales by Qantas and Virgin will offer much of a discount.
I am looking to travel regionally (self funded) in the new year as my destination is not a holiday spot prices remain high.

The sales are normally for off peak etc so I would be surprised if we didn’t see anything. I’ve not really seen much movement in sale pricing compared to pre higher oil pricing.

Seems like the opportunities for airlines are peak and last minute fare pricing to pull in as much as possible.

I’ve had a few Google Alerts on some domestic fares in the coming month and they are changed almost daily. Very up and down pricing also.

 

[Snowant]

One QFd CBR-SYD flight I looked at earlier tonight was about two hours late, presumably due to storms in Sydney.

This destroys any time saving compared to the Murrays and FlixBus road coaches (c. three hours) or even the much more pleasant, but slower, NSW TrainLink XPlorer railcars (c. four hours).

CBR-SYD survives because of public servants, lobbyists and other passengers, the latter often making international connections (or to Oz destinations not served nonstop from CBR). Provided the road coaches are perceived as reliable, over time they'll continue to steal former air passengers.

And the Federal government is providing $100 million for (minor) upgrades to the railway, most useful between Queanbeyan and Goulburn where the train is pretty slow (though scenic through the Molongo gorge).

The road to/from Sydney can be a problem, before I started flying I did many trips driving. For instance, mid arvo onwards, heading towards Sydney, there's a long slow block-up from the Nattai bridge near Mittagong, seems to be caused by the disruption of the on-ramps. It doesn't really stop until the road widens to 3 lanes near Campbelltown. you are in 1st and 2nd gear most of the way.

Add to that truck crashes etc, the road can be unreliable too. I haven't had a flight delay yet and hope they're leaving sydney as I wouldn't like it if I had a tight time connection for a doctor/clinic appointment. But storms are dangerous.

If they smoothed out the bends in the track, the Canberra train could go much faster, and it would become a good option. I believe that's what the upgrades are, fixing the bends.
Except from local forums I hear it's often packed, and sometimes it just doesn't turn up. The stations aren't manned, so there's no one to tell people. so they're on the forums asking if anyone knows what's happening.
Also the services on board that trains are famous for are apparently a bit of a hit and miss, mostly miss, on that train at least.