Airfares will likely remain expensive for six to 12 months, but the top end of the travel market continues to boom – with one company reporting a 421 per cent increase in the value of first-class flights sold this year compared with last.There’s plenty of caviar onboard Singapore Airline’s First Class Suites.
Although lockdowns are over and borders are open, flights are still more expensive than before the pandemic because airlines continue to operate at subdued levels. Aviation fuel is also more costly. “As more international carriers restart their services to Australia and capacity grows, we would have expected that the pricing for first and business class would decline,” Ms Burgdorf said.Advertisement
An average booking with Travel Associates is $10,500. Air tickets comprise the highest component at 51 per cent, while cruise sales are up by as much as 80 per cent year-on-year for premium brands such as Silversea, Ponant, Viking Cruises and Regent Seven Seas.Hong Kong-based Bart Buiring, chief sales and marketing officer of Asia-Pacific for Marriott International, says while luxury travel is on the rise across the globe, the Asia-Pacific region is the epicentre of growth.