Half-price flights in holiday fare sales - The Australian

. Source: Herald Sun

AIRLINES are slashing fares by up to half this week in a bit to stimulate demand in one of the biggest shopping weeks of the year.

On the day shoppers traditionally head to retail stores, airlines will vie for the consumer dollar with heavily discounted fares.

Jetstar, Cathay Pacific and Fiji's national carrier Air Pacific were among those launching sales today.

Aviation expert Tony Webber, from Webber Quantitative Consulting, said the airlines were taking advantage of the Boxing Day sales hysteria.

"There's a lot of competition for the dollar, not just from other airlines but they compete for spend from other types of goods," he said.

"There's a huge segment of the market that only care about price when booking flights and that segment is growing.

"Sometimes you get ridiculous fares, but there's only a limited number of fares at very, very cheap prices and they don't always include extras such as baggage."

Low-fares airline Jetstar had Boxing Day sale fares from Sydney and Melbourne to Bali from $199 compared to $399 last week for selected travel dates in August and September.

It also had sale fares from Darwin to Bali from $99, the Gold Coast to Christchurch from $119, Cairns to Tokyo from $199 and the Gold Coast to Tokyo from $229.

After Fiji was ravaged by a cyclone last week, Air Pacific was also offering fares to Nadi at up to 43 per cent off the usual price for bookings made before Friday.

Its sale, which began on Saturday, included return flights from Sydney from $482, $539 return from Melbourne and $600 return from Brisbane.

Cathay Pacific also had Boxing Day sale fares from Melbourne to Hong Kong from $911, Sydney to Hong Kong from $929, Brisbane to Shanghai from $994 and Adelaide to Seoul from $1114.

The prices represent saving of more than $200 for flights to Hong Kong and more than $150 for Melbourne to Beijing flights.

Jetstar also had domestic airfares sales including Adelaide to Brisbane from $69, Brisbane to Sydney from $49 and Hobart to Melbourne from $39.

Jetstar group chief commercial officer David Koczkar said the Boxing Day sales were popular every year.

"Shoppers will be offered bigger than normal discounts on Boxing Day... whether you're looking to visit Bali for that perfect beach holiday or catching up with friends and family interstate," he said.