This was published 1 year ago
Travel costs surge as Australians look to fly to London for Queen's funeral
By Katherine Scott
Heathrow Airport still has a cap on the number of passengers allowed to fly in each day, further reducing opportunities for flights to London ahead of the Queen's funeral.Credit: AP
Australians hoping to travel to London ahead of Queen Elizabeth II's funeral can expect to pay close to double for airfares, industry experts say.
Melbourne-based Jeremy Mann from the Australian Monarchist League, who is currently travelling in Europe, is among the cohort of Australians heading to London to attend the event.
Mann said the funeral has been something that monarchists like himself have been preparing for some time, dubbing it "the most significant historical event in my lifetime".
Jeremy Mann from the Australian Monarchist League is heading to London for the Queen's funeral.
"I was very fortunate as flights were not too expensive (from continental Europe). But it would have been very difficult to attend if I was currently in Australia due to a surge in prices and short notice," said Mann.
Seats on Qantas' London routes were already heavily booked for months prior to the monarch's passing, with pent-up demand and capacity restrictions at London Heathrow Airport since July contributing to the lack of seats.
Even when broadening fare searches to include all airlines, those departing from Australia will be hard-pressed finding return economy seats for less than $4000, according to David Goldman, joint managing director at travel company Goldman Group in Bondi Junction.
"You're looking at around $4000 to $4500 – if you're creative and you don't mind flying out of a city that's not your home city perhaps," said Goldman.
The Sydney-based travel professional received an "unexpected" surge in London enquiries over the weekend, with many customers wanting to bring their London trips forward.
He said one client "paid a pretty penny" to fast-track his trip to the United Kingdom, so he could arrive in time for the funeral.
"He had the means to do it and he upgraded his fare. The symbolism of being there outweighed the financial cost," he said.
Hotel rates in London have also spiked by up to 25 per cent, said Goldman, and he expects this trend to continue through to July 2023.
Mann also noted a surge in nightly hotel rates for his visit, with availability seemingly scarce.
Following a period of national mourning across the UK that began on September 8, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has warned travellers to brace for "substantial disruptions" to services across the country.
"There will be large crowds as people gather to mourn. It will be difficult to find accommodation, particularly in London," the department's Smart Traveller website warns.
Canstar finance expert Steve Mickenbecker said a historic event such as the late Queen's funeral will inevitably lead to heightened travel demand, with higher airfares and hotel rates.
"While demand will surge for flights and rooms, supply of accommodation can't expand, and the reality for airlines is that a meaningful expansion from their already stretched capacity is only marginally more feasible," said Mickenbecker.
"Booking early and being flexible about dates are not options in this scenario," he added, noting current high costs will be a huge disincentive for even the most committed Anglophiles.
Although the Australian dollar has risen 13 percent against the British pound in the last six months, making travel in the United Kingdom more affordable, that will only go a short way toward covering the immediately higher costs, said Mickenbecker.
The spike in demand comes amid Heathrow Airport extending its capacity limits through the summer season, with caps scheduled to end on October 29, 2022 unless resource levels improve prior.
The international hub, which is usually one of the world's busiest airports, introduced capacity restrictions to cope with summer demand and limit disruptions, with Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye citing in July the airport's service dropping to "unacceptable" level.
Heathrow chief commercial officer Ross Baker said the airport's primary concern is ensuring they give passengers reliable service, and that the quality of travel has already shown improvement.
"We want to remove the cap as soon as possible, but we can only do so when we are confident that everyone operating at the airport has the resources to deliver the service our passengers deserve," said Baker.
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