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d in February of 2010. In the United Kingdom, similar trends followed as in Australia for February. The Office for National Statistics indicated that in the month of February there were 1.73 million international visitors, down from 2.1 million in January 2010. Overseas departures of residents of the UK also declined in February, with 3.17 million people compared to about 4 million the month previous to that (Office for National Statistics, 2010). The number of UK travellers to Australia is still quite low, with the impact of the global financial crisis and a strong Australian dollar not making Australia an attractive or cheap destination. This percentile has in fact been decreasing from 1999 onwards, where it stood at 9.7% (ABS, 2010).

A momentary rise of total international passengers was observed during March 2010 and another decline experienced during mid-April 2010 to May. This is due to volcanic eruptions in Iceland which halted operations at major European airports during this time. A drop of 16% in arrivals from Europe to Australia was experienced in the month of April (Tourism Australia, 2010). Major airlines servicing flights between Europe and Australia include Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Malaysia Airlines, Thai Airways and Etihad. British Airways, Air Austral, Air France, Aer Lingus and Lufthansa also service particular routes in Europe to Australia.

During April of 2010, volcanic eruptions in Iceland halted many operations across Europe. This contributed to the decline in passenger numbers as seen in the graph above for that month. Demand for flights increased during this period, as people tried to return to home countries, but restrictions imposed on air traffic meant that aircraft were grounded for several days. The supply of international flights to or from Europe came to a standstill.

The substitute of rail or coach travel became very appealing to many which needed to travel out of the United Kingdom or to other airports in the United Kingdom during the ban. A news article indicated that 'a 205% increase in customers using its London-Glasgow route since the Air Travel crisis began on Thursday 15 April' occurred (Virgin Trains, 2010). One coach company stated that 'a 70% increase in passenger number on its cross-border services' occurred (Breaking Travel News, 2010). This shows the existing competition between different transport forms, being high-speed rail networks and air travel, on the European continent.

For a flight from Sydney to London Heathrow, Emirates does this fare for around $100 Australian dollars cheaper than Singapore airlines, flying over Dubai rather than through South-East Asia. This is in fact a longer flight than over Singapore as a stopover country.

As a comparison to a Thai International Airways A340-500, an Emirates A340-500 has 43 more seats in a 3-class configuration, with 12 suites compared to 60 lie-flat seat beds (SeatGuru, 2010). This is evidence of poor configuration efficiency on long-haul flights, such as between Sydney and London.

Furthermore in 2009, Thai Airways reported a 65.8% seat factor, down from 68.2% in 2008 (THAI, 2010). In May 2010, the Thai Airways seat factor for their European sector was down to 58%. Singapore airlines had an increased seat factor of 78.4% in 2009, compared to 76.5% in 2008 (Singapore Air, 2010). Singapore airlines charge around $1200 Australian dollars and Thai 本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。