Fair Dinkum: Aussie airlines acting on impulse

By GREG ANSLEY

New Zealanders travelling within Australia will be able to cut the cost of flying along Australia's east coast by more than 50 per cent with a widening air fare war.

The spur to cheap flights has been the arrival of Impulse Airlines, a no-frills service operating Boeing 717-200 jets between Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra and, from September, to Brisbane.

Later this year Virgin Blue, the Australian offshoot of British millionaire Richard Branson's international airline, will join the fray, with plans for a fleet of 10 new-model Boeing 737s.

Qantas and Ansett have responded by stripping conditions on cheap advance-purchase fares.

But with Impulse already looking like a serious competitor and with Virgin expected to increase the total number of flights on the key Sydney-Melbourne route by up to 40 per cent, some analysts expect more drastic measures to be taken.

Qantas chief executive James Strong has indicated his airline may consider launching its own peanuts-and-cola rival.

Impulseis offering substantially cheaper fares than Qantas or Ansett.

One-way flights between Sydney and Melbourne cost $A139, which is 53.3 per cent cheaper than other standard economy fares.

A one-way ticket on Impulse's new Canberra-Sydney shuttle is $A119, one-third of its rivals' prices.

And in September Impulse will undercut its competitors by 55 per cent with $A149 fares between Sydney and Brisbane, and $A250 between Melbourne and Sydney.