Qantas has launched a mega‑sale of more than two million fares from just $99, despite mounting concerns over jet fuel supply and rising price volatility. 

The week-long sale, which kicked off at midnight on Tuesday, covers 90 domestic routes across the country, locking in travel through to March 2027 - a bold gamble at a time when airlines are grappling with global instability.

The bargain fares include peak periods like the June long weekend and winter school holidays.

Qantas Domestic chief executive Markus Svensson said the sale was designed to support Australians' increasing desire to travel within their home country.

'We've just had a bumper Easter holidays with more than a million customers travelling around our domestic network and this sale is timed for those planning where to head next,' he said.

'We have millions of discounted seats across more than 90 routes, including some of Australia's most popular holiday destinations, from tropical beaches and much-loved regional towns to city escapes.'

Virgin Australia also launched a sale on Monday as competition in domestic airfares ramps up.

The airline dropped half-a-million airfares starting from $55 for one-way flights to Sydney, Byron Bay and Newcastle.

The sale will continue until April 26 for flights scheduled between May 19 and December 16, 2026.   

University of Sydney Business School professor Rico Merkert said he suspected Qantas and Virgin were seeking to extract as much cash as possible from their core domestic networks.

However, he warned the strategy could become risky if the war in the Middle East escalates, noting that jet fuel availability, not just price volatility, could emerge as a serious constraint, potentially forcing airlines to cancel flights more broadly.

'If they have to cancel international flights and pause or cull some unviable regional flights, they need to compensate that loss in cash flow somewhere,' he said.

'Getting their core routes closer to full load factors will contribute to that.

'Selling each and every seat on those flights will also help with the increased fuel cost of operating them.'

Meanwhile foreign airlines are already cancelling flights and reducing services to Australia fearing more disruption if the fuel shock from the US-Israel conflict with Iran is not resolved by May.

Fiji Airways said last week it would pause some services to Australia and the US because of high fuel prices and market uncertainty.

International Air Transport Association director-general Willie Walsh has warned passengers to expect flight cancellations in the May half-term holidays as flight disruption spreads from Asia to Europe.

'We have also estimated that by the end of May, we could start to see some cancellations in Europe for lack of jet fuel,' he said. 'This is already happening in parts of Asia.'

Aviation specialist Sally Gethin said the scale of the impact on air passengers will depend on how long the Strait remains closed.

'Even if it opens you'd still need time for the jet fuel supplies to start up again,' she told the Daily Mail. 

'So the best case scenario would be fares going up and some routes being cancelled.

'The worst case scenario is if this carries on for six to eight weeks and the shortages start really biting. This could pose an existential crisis to airlines - even if they slap on fuel surcharges they still won't recoup the cost.

'You could be looking at tens of thousands, potentially hundreds of thousands, of flights being cancelled globally.'