Delta Airlines: Brisbane to Los Angeles price war erupts as carrier launches new flight starting from December

An airfare price war is making it cheaper to fly to Los Angeles than Perth, albeit depending on how picky you are with airline choice.

Delta Airlines launches its Brisbane-Los Angeles service on December 4 with a remarkable – but limited - sale fare of just $867 return.

The US carrier will operate an Airbus A350-900 on the seasonal service three times a week until 28 March 2025, and it’s the second Australian city in the airline’s network after Sydney.

Flight Centre’s James Kavanagh says the company’s arrival in Brisbane is great for competition.

“It’s fantastic for Australian consumers,” he told The Nightly.

“There’s a bit of a price war going on at the moment.”

For Brisbane Airport, it’s a chance to get one up on Melbourne Airport which it occasionally competes with to be a second Australian destination for overseas carriers.

“Brisbane has never been more connected to the US which means more choice for travellers and lower airfares,” says Anthony Cicuttini, Brisbane Airport’s Head of Aviation Business Development.

Flight Centre says other carriers are responding to the increased competition, with some offering return airfares from Australia to the US West Coast for under $1,000.

Airfares from Brisbane to Los Angeles peaked in October 2023 when they reached $2,745 return, so to fall back to under $900 just over a year later is remarkable.

“Once a new airline launches into the market they launch an incredible deal and as a result of that, it’s actually the most affordable out of Australia at the moment,” explains Mr Kavanagh.

“Of course, it’s all based on availability and prices will go up quickly,” he warned.

The increased competition on international routes throws up outrageous comparisons to domestic ones.

In the same week Delta launches its new route to Brisbane, flying Qantas from Melbourne to Perth will cost you $920 return – making it $53 more expensive to cross the Nullarbor Desert than the Pacific Ocean.

Virgin ($549) and Jetstar ($489) are far better options to Perth that week!

“Unfortunately, we are in a duopoly market so as a result of that fares can go up quite easily,” explains Mr Kavanagh.

He also hinted the recent US election result may affect airfares to America.

“We think that with the election, there’s the ‘Trump Trade’ going on at the moment, and it might actually stimulate more demand, particularly when it comes to business travel,” he said.

In the latest performance figures collected by the Federal Government, Virgin comes out best performer for cancelled flights.

Just 0.8 per cent of Virgin’s flights were cancelled in October, ahead of Jetstar at 1 per cent, and much better than Qantas at 2.8 per cent.

Blake Johnson is a reporter for 7News Melbourne.