That ICPA (Aust) continues to work with commercial airlines servicing regional and remote areas across Australia to introduce equitable, capped student fares or establish discount codes for rural and remote school-aged children and tertiary students required to travel for educational purposes.
For geographically isolated families, air travel is essential, not optional, for accessing education. Many students must travel long distances to attend boarding school or other educational services, and without affordable flights, families are often forced to choose between lengthy and exhausting road travel or incurring prohibitive costs.
We acknowledge Qantas’ existing Resident Fare Program and appreciate the support this offers in select regions. However, this program is currently limited to parts of Northern Queensland, the Northern Territory and North-Western Australia, and only applies to a restricted number of seats per flight. Students from other regions such as South Australia, New South Wales and Tasmania are unable to access these discounts and continue to face excessive travel costs.
We request that ICPA (Aust) advocate for a more inclusive solution by working with the commercial airlines to develop their own dedicated national student discount code. These could be structured as capped student fares or flexible, concession-based booking options, aimed specifically at school-aged children and tertiary students travelling between home and place of study.
The Queensland ‘Bush to Boarding’ initiative through REX Airlines demonstrates that such a program is both possible and effective. This model offers capped fares for students travelling from regional centres to major cities and could serve as a blueprint for broader national implementation. While REX is currently in voluntary administration, we note that this is expected to have concluded by 30 June 2025, potentially allowing for renewed partnerships in the near future.
Case Study:
One North West member, who lives 800km one way from Adelaide, tried booking her boarding student on a flight from Adelaide to Coober Pedy 4 weeks before the planned trip. The flights were coming up as completely booked out for the entire month, even that far in advance. Closer to the date, the flights became available but at an inflated cost of $590 one way, with no return flights. The increase in flight costs when booking a week out compared to 3 weeks is horrendous and often very limited seating.
