Call for lower airfares heard across nation

Pilbara authorities hope to gain national traction with their calls for an inquiry into high airfares after receiving support from mining communities on Australia’s East Coast.

With residents long complaining about the cost of flights to and from the region, Pilbara Regional Council chief executive Tony Friday this month stepped up calls for cheaper flights ahead of the 2017 State elections.

He wants the State Government to investigate why the prices are so high and then put together a support package to mitigate the cost for Pilbara residents and small businesses.

But since making his call earlier this month, Mr Friday said he had been contacted by communities in Queensland, including Federal independent MP Bob Katter, offering their support.

“This started as a State call but we have since been contacted by a number of politicians on (Australia’s) East Coast, who have got similar problems with the airlines flying into mining communities,” he said. “It looks like this may well end up being a call for a national inquiry, which lends itself considerably more weight.”

Mr Friday blamed high airfares on the fact resources companies received generous tax incentives to maintain fly-in, fly-out workforces.

He said this meant they were willing to pay high prices to guarantee regular services into the Pilbara.

While Virgin did not reply to aTelegraph request for comment, a Qantas spokesman said the airline faced a number of challenges in the Pilbara market since the downturn in the mining sector.

He said Qantas was in regular contact with the councils of the Pilbara region.

“As we stated at our full-year results, the resource downturn has cost our business more than $120 million in financial year 2016,” the spokesman said.

“There are always regular sale fares in the market, with some flights starting at $215 or $245 one-way, and we always encourage passengers to book as early as possible to ensure they get the best fare.”