The Productivity Commission has delivered a scathing report into the spiralling cost of regional air travel.
One submission revealed a family of four paid the equivalent of a single return trip to Europe for a one-hour flight.
The commission wants governments to stop propping up individual airlines and open subsidised routes to tender.
Regional Australians are paying excessive fares to travel within their own state, with a new Productivity Commission report exposing the extraordinary cost of domestic travel.
One family of four paid $3,200 for a one-hour flight from Kalgoorlie to Perth — the cost of a single return airfare to Europe.
The interim report, released today, found short regional flights were, on average, 173 per cent more expensive per kilometre than major city routes.
"Previous government inquiries have looked at the issue, but until now we haven't had the data or the evidence to understand what really sets the prices."
The report, commissioned by Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers, comes as airlines continue to scrap regional routes across the country, due to high fuel costs and lack of demand.
The Determinants of Regional Airfares report received more than 100 submissions, with some revealing the devastating consequences of expensive airfares for families and remote communities.
The Northern Territory's Yalu Aboriginal Corporation warned high airfares were leaving children disconnected from their families.
