News
Several flights will fly empty to Sydney after Australia cut the weekly cap for incoming international passengers by 50%
July 7th 2021
The Board of Airline Representatives of Australia (BARA) told The Australian newspaper the government's decision to reduce the number of overseas arrivals allowed entry to the country meant up to a third of all international flights to Sydney would have no passengers on board. Read More » Last week, the Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, announced overseas arrivals into Australia would be reduced by 50%, to 3,035 passengers a week from July 14. The reduced cap meant the allocation for Sydney, Australia's busiest international airport, would be 1,505 passengers a week, or 215 passengers a day. "The very low load factor and the very high fixed cost of operating long and medium-haul flights mean a lot of passenger flights will no longer be commercially viable,” BARA executive director, Barry Abrams, told the newspaper. BARA represents 33 airlines flying into and out of Australia; approximately 90% of all international passenger services operating into the country.
