SINGAPORE, May 8 (The Straits Times/ANN): A round-trip economy class flight to London on Singapore Airlines (SIA) cost S$1,800 (RM5,680) before the pandemic began in early 2020. As at this week, travellers can expect to fork out 80 per cent more for their holiday in Britain, with tickets to the capital for next month and July going for $3,200.
A round-trip economy class ticket to New York on SIA for June costs $3,000 this week, while flying to Seoul in the same month will set one back $1,380. Nearer to home, a round-trip to Bangkok in June can cost as much as $384 on the national carrier.
As Singapore fully reopens its borders, dropping all need for pre-departure and on-arrival tests as well as quarantine requirements for the fully vaccinated, those looking to satisfy their wanderlust are increasingly encountering the nightmare of surging fares.
Even before the traditional mid-year holiday season, passenger volumes have risen.
Last month saw a doubling of passenger volume at Changi Airport, to 40 per cent of 2019 levels - a figure that is likely to go up in the coming months.
SIA told The Straits Times it is seeing strong demand for both leisure and business travel across all its cabin classes.
Budget carrier Scoot also pointed to "pent-up demand" and "an increase in travel loads".
Caesar Indra, president of airline ticketing and hotel booking service Traveloka, said ticket prices for the top three destinations for Singaporeans - Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam according to its data - have increased by an average of 20 per cent since last month.
"Since the start of the year, with every travel restriction lifted, we have been noticing users quickly booking their next trips to fulfil their pent-up demand," he said.
A spokesman for Chan Brothers Travel said bookings for its tours have more than doubled since April 1, when specially designated vaccinated travel lane flights for quarantine-free re-entry to Singapore were deemed no longer necessary.
"As long as travel dates are within three months of booking, chances are the lowest class of airfares will no longer be available. For some destinations like New Zealand, Italy, Spain and Switzerland, airfares can be up to twice or more," she added.
A combination of factors is responsible for this latest spike, as the aviation industry adjusts to the new normal.
The much-anticipated reopening of borders comes just months before the usual travel peak period, with school holidays approaching and much of Europe entering summer, giving travellers little time to book advance flight tickets that are likely to be cheaper.
Meanwhile, the lack of opportunities to travel in the last two years - and potentially higher disposable income - is spurring people on sufficiently to not let higher fares put them off. This, at a time when flight volumes and frequency have not yet returned to what they were in 2019.
Clarice Pui, 19, recently bought Scoot tickets to Thailand with a group of friends for a trip in late July, paying $280 for her ticket, about $130 more than she would have paid when she first checked prices early last month.
The student said she and her friends are travelling on a budget and had talked about cancelling the trip if prices surged, but eventually decided to go ahead.
"We'd planned this trip for a while now, and it's really more about spending time with my friends than anything else," she said. "Last year, the situation had not stabilised and we decided to travel after they announced that Covid-19 tests were no longer needed."
Madam Lim Eunyoung, a 48-year-old finance manager, is also not deterred.
She plans on flying to Seoul in August to visit her family there, despite a round-trip economy-class ticket to South Korea on SIA now costing upwards of $1,100 for a flight in that month.
The same pair of tickets had cost her about $600 back in 2019.
"Tickets are more expensive now, but I haven't seen my mother in two years and miss her a lot. I want to see her soon," she said.
Mayur Patel, head of Asia for aviation intelligence company OAG, said travellers could look beyond SIA to foreign airlines for better deals as home carriers can afford to price their tickets higher.
Though prices are currently high, airlines will ensure that these ultimately do not dampen demand, which is just recovering, he said
"Air ticket prices are relatively price-elastic and airline revenue management teams are taking a prudent approach with the recovery. I do see some of the high-demand destination airfares coming off once we have more competition on those sectors."
Bertrand Saillet, managing director of FCM Travel in Asia, said the difference between fares now and those during the pandemic is also particularly stark as airlines had in 2020 and last year launched campaigns or offered discounts to encourage demand, depressing fares that should have cost more.
Flight prices might remain high in the coming years, he said.
"We expect a possibility of an increase in flight prices, which will be mainly contributed by rising jet fuel prices, as well as inflation across the broader economy."
Mr Shukor Yusof of aviation consultancy Endau Analytics agreed.
"It's supply and demand. And of course, jet fuel prices and other costs associated with health protocols," he said.
"The value of money has changed - many things are more expensive today." - The Straits Times/ANN
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