As airlines enjoy a spike in bookings ahead of WA's border reopening, travel agents fear they are not out of the woods yet.
Airlines have reported a big jump in bookings since Western Australia announced its reopening date, but some WA travel agents fear their businesses are entering a third year of suffering.But a Perth travel agent fears another year of hardshipWA government's Monday announcementOn Tuesday, Virgin Australia said there had been a 420 per cent increase in bookings for flights into Perth from Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane since the announcement.
A spokesperson for the airline told the ABC bookings had jumped from an average of 70 per cent behind 2019 levels, to be in line with the level of demand enjoyed in 2019, in just one day.The spokesperson said Victorians were the most eager to get to WA, with a 760 per cent jump in sales on the previous day.
A Qantas spokesperson said they had also seen strong demand for all early services when borders open. They said Qantas was scheduled to start flying internationally from Perth to London, and to Singapore, from March 27.But Global Travel Solutions owner Jo Francis said the only calls she had received since the announcement were people cancelling their December and January bookings, or their planned trips to Queensland.
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