http://www.australia.com/
Australia, the land "down under", enjoyed a plethora of European airlines coming to it's shores, for decades.
But, now, one by one the very same airlines who were bringing thousands upon thousands of passengers, eagerly awaiting to see this country, are now deserting it, by withdrawing it's services, leaving only British Airways and Virgin Atlantic airlines to fly into Australia.
The last European airline to withdraw it's services from Australia was Austrian airlines in 2007.
Among those airlines who withdrew their services from Australia are: KLM, which first flew to Australia in 1938, with a weekly Sydney to London flight.
A journey that took eight days!
Alitalia, now fighting for it's survival, was bringing Italian migrants to this country in the 1940's and 1950's, began their scheduled services in 1960.
Another defunct airline (Absorbed by Air France) flying into Australia was UTA,
flying it's colours in the Pacific, serving it's colonies.
AOM another french airline, who started it's services into Sydney, via Colombo, filling a vacuum left by the withdrawal of Air France, has not been seen in the Ozzie skies for quite a few years now.
The german airline Lufthansa is also, no longer flying to Australia.
The old JAT (former Yugoslav airlines) is now absent from the land of the kangaroos as well.
Greece's Olympic airlines, once the pride and joy of Onassis family, also, withdrew from Australia.
Why are European airlines cancelling their flights?
What are the causes for these cancellations?
The answer to these questions are (as are in all businesses) supply and demand.
Factors such as the increase cost of aviation fuel, lack of profitability on these long haul services, and of course competition by low-cost airlines in South East Asia, flying from major aviation hubs, such as Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong.
The emergence of Air Asia, one of the most successful and profitable airlines to surface in South East Asia along with the likes of Tiger Airways, Asiana and others
has contributed to the demise of the " Kangaroo route" for the European airlines mentioned above. As travellers, are now enjoying a stopover in these hubs after flying from European gateways.
Sure, all of the above-mentioned airlines have their respectives sales offices in Australia, but, their aircrafts are notoriously absent from the skies down under.
As more and more airlines are merging to form alliances, would be customers are reaping the rewards offered by these airlines who are members of the alliance.
Among them we can mention The Star Alliance, with names like; Singapore Airlines, United Airlines, Lufthansa and many well known brands in the aviation industry, with the recent addition of Turkish Airlines.
Another one is One World Alliance, with heavy weights such as; Qantas, British Airways and Cathay Pacific.
Will we see more mergers and more alliances?
The answer is a definite "Yes" as the competition from these alliances are no match for smaller or isolated airlines operating on their own.
In the future, we will see more mergers and additions to alliances, as airlines will
try to maximise their revenues by having been included in "Brand Names" alliances.
But, for now, the low-cost airlines are enjoying the fruits of their labours, as the
public is taking advantage of the promotions and low costs tickets offered by them.
Happy and safe travels to you.
Hayri Yuruten.
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