Yothu Yindi Manager: for Regional Bands It’s Cheaper to Play London
Managers of Yothu Yindi and King Stingray say airfares from Arnhem Land now cost more than flights abroad. A Productivity Commission interim report found long regional flights cost 67 per cent more than major city routes. Qantas blames rising costs.
Alan James, manager of the Arnhem Land band Yothu Yindi, said on November 14, 2026, that for regional bands it's cheaper to play a concert in London than in an Australian capital city, because domestic airfares have become so high.
He put a number on it. A return flight from Gove to Brisbane costs $5,200, James said.
"It would be cheaper for us to go do a concert in London than it would be to do a concert in a capital city of Australia," he said. "It's just pricing us out of the market."
Shows turned down
Stuart Kellaway, Yothu Yindi's bassist, now manages fellow Arnhem Land rock band King Stingray. He said the younger band's recent flights to shows in the United States cost less than domestic flights.
King Stingray has turned down three or four shows in the past month or so, Kellaway said. The airfares made the finances unworkable.
He said the problem reaches artists in the prime of their careers. "With streaming and everything else, gigs are one of the last, decent income streams for bands," he said.
Emerging artists hit hardest
James said all bands feel the cost, but new acts suffer most. "If you're an emerging group, you've got no shot, you're out of the business," he said.
"It really means for musicians, if you're not based in a capital city, then you're not in the market anymore."
What the Productivity Commission found
The Productivity Commission, the federal government's research and advisory body, released an interim report this week on the gap between regional and metropolitan airfares. It found long regional and remote flights cost 67 per cent more on average than major city routes.
Short regional flights cost 173 per cent more per kilometre, the report found. It also said competition in regional aviation is severely limited.
James and Kellaway said they had seen fewer airlines serve Arnhem Land over the course of Yothu Yindi's career. Several airlines have recently cut Northern Territory services. Flights between Darwin and capitals such as Sydney, Adelaide and Canberra are now served only by Qantas and its subsidiary Jetstar.
Qantas response
A Qantas spokesperson said rising costs had dramatically influenced ticket prices in and out of the Northern Territory.
"Aviation costs, including labour, airport charges and government air traffic control fees, are rising faster than the rate of inflation, while fuel costs also remain significantly higher," the spokesperson said.
"Great value fares can still be found on flights to and from the Northern Territory and we encourage customers to book ahead whenever possible to secure the best fare."
