Aviation experts say the days of the $100 return flight from Canberra to Sydney are over.
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In less than a year there has been an almost 50 per cent increase in the cost of the cheapest return flight between Canberra and Sydney, according to the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation.
Executive chairman Peter Harbison said the increase was a result of less competition at Canberra Airport, with remaining carriers fighting for a share of the lucrative business travel market.
According to Mr Harbison, in October last year, people could purchase a return flight between the two cities for $229.50, but by September this year, this had increased to $341.31.
He expects this to creep up to $350 by the end of the month.
''There is less competition, Virgin is a different airline,'' he said.
''They have ceased to be a low-cost carrier and are a full carrier.
''High fares are a flame for the moth.''
Mr Harbison said Virgin Australia's push to capture a healthy share of the domestic corporate travel market from Qantas was unlikely to result in reduced fares.
''I fear we are past the best fares. Unless Tiger comes back in a big way, consumers will pay more.''
Budget carrier Tiger Airways, which was grounded in July because of safety violations, has not resumed flights to Canberra despite returning to other cities.
It has removed Canberra from the drop-down booking menu on its website.
While Mr Harbison was unable to access historical figures on the cost of flying from Melbourne to Canberra, current data shows a return flight between the two capitals costs about $350.
Air Transport World senior editor Geoffrey Thomas said the absence of Tiger Airways at Canberra Airport had hiked up the cost of domestic travel.
''Tiger Airways put extraordinarily low fares into the market to buy market position and that has the possibility to accentuate the cost of flying to destinations where they are not participants.''
Mr Thomas said while fares across Australia were the cheapest they had ever been, Canberra was a captive market and fares to the capital were becoming more expensive.
''This is something that is missed a lot in commentary about aviation. If you want to go for a skiing holiday you will look at various places in New Zealand, but destination competition doesn't exist in Canberra ... [because] there is very little tourist traffic.''
He said people on business trips were unlikely to complain about the cost of travel.
''If it's a business trip, you have to go, they will pay without complaining.''
But a Virgin Australia spokesperson said fares between Sydney and Canberra had only increased slightly over the past 12 months.
''We aim to provide sustainably low fares ... for example our last lead-in sale fare on the route was just $79 one-way, which was 28 per cent lower than our regular lead-in fare on the route, which is $109 one-way.''
She said the carrier had introduced a new fare structure earlier this year to provide business and leisure travellers with cheaper flights closer to the time of travel.