Currently only domestic flights arrive in Tasmania. Those wishing to go straight to Tasmania from overseas must first clear immigration and customs at a mainland airport, and then make a connecting flight to Tasmania.
Qantas is the major airline flying in and out of Australia, carrying over 40% of international passengers. In addition to Qantas, other airlines with service to Australia include:
- From North America: Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Air Tahiti Nui, Hawaiian, United.
- From Asia: Air China, ANA, Asiana, Cathay Pacific, China Airlines, China Eastern, Garuda Indonesia, JAL, JetStar Asia, Korean, Malaysian, Royal Brunei, Singapore Airlines, Thai, Vietnam Airlines.
- From Europe/Middle East: Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Emirates, Gulf Air, Virgin Atlantic.
- From Africa: South African Airways
The cost of travelling to Australia varies seasonally. The most expensive time will be in the Australian summer (December to February), with extremely high prices a few weeks either side of Christmas. As a rough guide, here are some return ticket prices from the web:
- Los Angeles-Melbourne: from US$1100 (Apr-May, Sep-Dec) to US$1800 near Christmas (or worse, prices were around US$2500 in 2005)
- London-Melbourne: from £750
- Tokyo-Melbourne: from ¥108,000
- Frankfurt-Melbourne: from €1100
Unless you can find a deal including a free stopover in Tasmania, it is generally cheaper to buy an international ticket to Sydney or Melbourne, and a separate domestic ticket from the mainland to Tasmania. However, be warned that the domestic airline is not bound to honour your ticket if your international flight is late. Therefore, it is not worth getting separate tickets if the saving is only a few dollars.
If flying into Australia on a oneWorld airline (e.g. Qantas, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, JAL), you can get a "Visit Australia and New Zealand" pass, good for travel on Qantas. This generally doesn't save you any money compared to a domestic ticket, but you can change the travel dates without penalty and are protected from misconnects.
If you wish to spend time on the mainland before coming to Tasmania, see the question Getting to Tasmania for Australian residents.
Useful phone numbers
| Qantas enquiries: |
Australia New Zealand USA/Canada United Kingdom |
13 13 13 0800-808-767 1-800-227-4500 0845-7-747-767 |
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Last reviewed 2006-08-06 12:44:23