Jetstar and Qantas have reported a huge spike in demand for travel between NSW and Victoria, following the announcement on Wednesday that borders will open between the two states from 23 November.
Around 25,000 seats were sold across both airlines in the first 48 hours of the announcement, with almost 17,000 of those between Sydney and Melbourne and the remainder between Melbourne and Ballina, and Melbourne and Newcastle.
One third of bookings are for flights in the first week of borders opening, highlighting a strong pent-up demand for domestic travel.
Jetstar and Qantas will operate thousands of flights between the two states over the summer period and will monitor demand to add more flights as needed.
These additional flights will see Melbourne – Sydney once again become Australia’s busiest air route.
