The high price for a person working in regional WA to fly home for Christmas has prompted renewed calls for a Parliamentary Inquiry to look into the cost of regional flights, particularly in mining towns.
The calls from Pilbara Regional Council chief executive Tony Friday came after it was revealed some flights from the Pilbara to the eastern states during the Christmas period topped $2500 return.
"Fly-in, fly-out workers are just like the rest of the community, they want to be home with loved ones for Christmas," he said.
"That generates a peak period of demand, anytime you've got a peak period of demand obviously profit taking occurs and that's when you get airlines maximising profits on what are already very profitable lines."
The cheapest flight from Karratha to Perth on December 23, the Friday before Christmas, is $870, or 69 cents per kilometre.
Last week, the same ticket cost $899 (16 cents per kilometre), on a day Mr Friday said he found a deal for a return trip from Perth to London – 26,400 kilometres further - for less.
"Hopefully now we've got some impetus towards holding this inquiry sometime early in the New Year and really trying to get to the bottom about how we best approach dealing with this really difficult problem for the region," Mr Friday said.
The cheapest return flights from Paraburdoo to Perth and Kalgoorlie to Perth from December 23 to 30, according to Skyscanner, were $666 and $503 respectively.
Meanwhile, Perth travellers planning a last-minute plane ticket east for Christmas can expect to pay the most per kilometre for a flight to Adelaide.
According to Skyscanner, the cheapest return flight to Adelaide on the same dates was a Virgin Australia flight priced at $835.
Per kilometre, the 2131 kilometre journey equates to 39 cents, nearly double the amount it will cost for a last-minute flight to Brisbane, Sydney and Darwin on the same dates.
For those travelling to Melbourne, the cheapest flight available is a Virgin Australia flight via Sydney for $674, while Tiger Air has direct flights to Sydney for $716 return.
The usual Christmas price surge on tickets will set those travelling to Hobart back at least $985, and those travelling to Brisbane, $789.
Cheapest flights to Australian capital cities from Perth on December 23:
Adelaide: $835
Brisbane: $789
Darwin: $608
Hobart: $985
Sydney: $716
Melbourne: $674
Canberra: $851
