Aussies trying to get home from overseas are turfed off flights or ordered to pay more than $35,000 to upgrade to business class after Scott Morrison introduced a cap on international arrivals
- Australians trying to return home are facing battle to secure affordable flights
- Government announced cap of 4,000 overseas passengers a week last Friday
- Flights into Sydney Airport have also had to cut their capacity to 50 passengers
- Australians booked in economy report being cleared for business passengers
- One passenger looking for business fares from US reported a quote of $35,000
Australians trying to return home from overseas are reportedly being bumped from flights if they do not upgrade to business class.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the cap of a maximum of 4,000 passengers per week reducing arrivals by about a third.
Arrivals into Sydney Airport were already capped at 50 passengers per flight.
The measure was introduced to reduce strain on Australia's beleaguered hotel quarantine system - with New South Wales' budget for accommodating return travellers during the coronavirus pandemic already exceeding $50million.
But Australians have said the cap is wreaking havoc on their attempts to secure flights as airlines prioritise business class passengers.
Cathy Collins and her husband Jim have been trying to get back to Australia with their young family but have found themselves being cleared from their economy seats to make space for business class passengers on reduced-capacity flights
Jim Collins said he and his wife Cathy, from Tasmania, had been trying to get home from the UK since March, and thought he had finally found a way when he was re-booked onto a flight to Sydney last week.
However the airline he booked with cleared his family off the flight before he learned they were favouring business class passengers to cut capacity down to the 50-passenger limit.
'As best as I know, all economy passengers were cleared off the flight to make room, with a 50-person limit for premium passengers only — first class and business class,' Mr Collins told 7.30.
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Another passenger Rebecca Halligan - who was trying to return to Adelaide from the UK - said she was booked to return to Sydney when the 50-passenger limit was introduced.
'I was called by the airline and they told me that they were prioritising business class passengers,' she said
'I couldn't afford to upgrade to business class so I was bumped off that flight.'
Traveller Katy-May Hudson said she was looking at a cost of $34,500 for a business class ticket if she was put in a position where she had no choice but to upgrade
Two passengers are pictured from the last flights from Melbourne last week
She said she eventually decided to book a business class flight home on her credit card, but admitted not everyone was in a financial position to do so.
One Australian traveller Katy-May Hudson said she was looking at a cost of $34,500 for a business class ticket from the US if her economy-fare route later this week was cancelled.
There were just 3,440 overseas visitors to Australia in May, the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows - an increase from the previous month but down 99.5 per cent from a year ago.
Jim and Cathy Collins thought they had finally found a way home from the UK when they were re-booked onto a flight to Sydney last week
Pictured: A masked passenger from a Melbourne to Sydney flight arrives at Sydney domestic airport last Wednesday
Another 13,380 Australian residents also returned during the month, a 98.5 per cent slump from a year ago.
Almost a fifth was made up of residents returning from India.
Of the overseas arrivals, almost a third of the visitors were from New Zealand - Australia's largest source country - followed by the United Kingdom and United States.
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