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The WA government is continuing its regional airfare zone cap (RAZC) scheme for another five years, but with some price increases.
The state will invest an extra $122 million into the subsidies to extend them to June 2031; however, under the revised plan to take effect from 1 July next year, passengers will pay more for “high-demand” flights such as those booked on school or public holidays, or at the last minute.
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While “low-demand” prices will stay capped at $199 one-way for destinations within 1,000km of Perth and $299 for destinations further away, “high-demand” tickets will be capped at $265 or $385 respectively. It follows uncertainty about the scheme’s future earlier this year.
State Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said the changes were “securing the future of this scheme to ensure our regional communities continue to have access to guaranteed year-round affordable airfares.”
“This initiative has fundamentally changed air travel affordability for regional communities that for too long were subjected to disproportionately high airfares, saving families thousands of dollars,” she said.
“Before our government stepped in, people who needed to get to Perth for compassionate reasons or specialist appointments were forced to pay unreasonably high airfare costs, particularly for travel from the State’s north.
“More than 677,000 capped airfares have been flown since the scheme was first introduced in 2022 – that’s one zone cap fare flown every three minutes – showing how incredibly popular this initiative is.
“Cheaper airfares for regional residents are here to stay as part of our government’s commitment to providing cost of living relief for WA families.”
The move to raise the caps has attracted backlash, however, with isolated residents telling the ABC the new prices may put travel out of reach.
The RAZC scheme is administered by the WA government in partnership with Airnorth, Nexus, Qantas, Rex, Skippers Aviation and Virgin. The government pays airlines part of the fare difference, though exact amounts are commercial in confidence.
Data in 2023 showed that the scheme, budgeted for $6.2 million in its first year, cost the state government $17 million in FY23.
According to industry insiders cited by The Australian Financial Review, most of this went to Qantas, which, as indicated by data at the time, operated around 65 per cent of regional flights in WA.
