FLIGHT PRICE INDEX

The Definitive International Flight Guide To Australia

SEPTEMBER 2006

The Flight Price Index, from www.australiatravelmarket.com, monitors the scheduled airlines’
international flight fares to Australia in order to chart and predict booking trends as following:

BEST FARES:

1. Qantas has the best fares to Australia for May and June 2007 departures: £578 from Heathrow; £624 from Manchester and £624 from Glasgow, all with Qantas via Ebookers, and Travelbag.

WWW.AUSTRALIATRAVELMARKET.COM’s PREDICTS:

2. Given the recent withdrawal of Malaysian Airline services from Manchester Airport it is predicted that the reduced competition may lead to a slight increase in prices from Manchester over the next 3 to 6 months.

3. As a result of Malaysian airlines recent tie up with Virgin Blue whereby passengers booking on Malaysian Airlines can connect directly through onto Virgin Blue flights, we predict that Malaysian Airlines will offer some very aggressive fares to regional gateways throughout Australia. If you are travelling to gateways beyond Sydney, Melbourne, Perth or Brisbane, be sure to ask what fare Malaysian Airlines are offering – it will be competitive and Virgin Blue are a very good proposition.

4. With Air New Zealand launching a new London – Hong Kong service in October and with Qantas recently introducing new routings via Hong Kong in addition to Virgin Atlantic and Cathay Pacific, it is predicted that we may see some tactical specials come into the market to encourage travellers to travel to Australasia via Hong Kong.

TRENDS IN AUGUST

5. Average fares to Sydney from all UK airports have stayed the same between August and September with the average price being £933.

6. Departures in April 2007 saw the largest price reduction of £435 with many airlines offering specials for departures in April. Prices from London, Manchester and Glasgow were on average £968.

7. Qantas has dominated the market this month over all 3 departure airports flying to Sydney for future months.

8. Biggest increase in price is for October 2006 from Manchester with an average increase of 26.61% from £971 to £1323.

9. Ebookers and Travelbag dominate the marketplace for lead in fares for all future months from London, Glasgow and Manchester.

10. January is currently the most expensive month to travel from London, Manchester or Glasgow to Australia.

Source: www.australiatravelmarket.com

• Economy return airfare to Sydney as at 01 August ‘06
• Using leading scheduled airlines to Australia (QF/SQ/MH/CX/EK/TG/VS)
• Average cost of all airfares displayed in search results
• Request airfare applicable at 01st of each month, for 2 week period
• Fares from London Heathrow, Manchester and Glasgow applied
• Supporting Fare Table can be viewed below

www.australiatravelmarket.com is a destination dedicated, content rich, travel search engine, that provides the independent traveller with the resources, on one comprehensive site, to quickly, simply and efficiently research, price compare and book.

-ENDS-

Note to editors: ALL PRICES ARE CORRECT AT TIME OF PRINTING

www.australiatravelmarket.com issues The Flight Price Index on a monthly basis. Should you require information at any other time, or would like a quote, comment or opinion from CEO Dave Simmons, please do not hesitate to contact Jovanka Ristich, IPR ,tel 01628 623003, email: Jovanka@globaltravelmarket.com

September 2006