Stiff competition between global carriers has led to a price war and travellers in Singapore are reaping the benefits of cheaper air tickets.

According to Today, long-haul flight ticket prices have been slashed by the likes of Singapore Airlines (SIA), Qatar Airways and Emirates to win market share.

The result is airfares becoming cheaper compared to last year.

Airfares to London and Paris, among other European destinations, have fallen below S$1,000 from about S$1,200 to S$1,400 last year, according to Dynasty Travel, one of the biggest travel agencies in Singapore.

Fares by low-cost carriers to nearby destinations such as Manila, Yangon and Seoul have also been reduced by as much as 15 to 50 percent.

Reasons

A combination of factors have contributed to cheaper tickets.

Fuel prices have remained low since 2016 and it is predicted to be this way until the end of 2017.

Airlines are also engaged in an intense competition to sell more seats due to increased fleet sizes, where international carriers undertook aggressive expansions over the past few years.

This is coupled by airlines flying new routes.

For example, local SIA Group, which includes SIA, SilkAir, Scoot and Tigerair, is flying to 14 new destinations, including Stockholm by SIA and Athens by Scoot.

Travellers from Singapore are lapping up the supply.

Travel agencies have been more active in organising travel fairs, while Singaporeans are drawn to Europe in droves due to the falling euro.

Prices are likely to remain low as supply is more than enough to meet the surge in demand.

Chan Brothers Travel told Today the travel agency is confident of achieving twice the number of bookings as they did at the same travel fair event last year.

Top photo via Pixabay

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