More than $1 billion is being spent on discount airline tickets in a bid to save the aviation and tourism sectors once JobKeeper ends.

The federal government is offering 800,000 half-price airline tickets from April 1 as part of the mammoth tourism support scheme.

The cheap flights will be on offer for 13 destinations including the Gold Coast, Cairns, the Whitsundays, Alice Springs, Broome, Kangaroo Island, Launceston, Avalon and Merimbula.

But the federal government admits it’s up to the states to play their part.

Federal Tourism Minister Dan Tehan told Gareth Parker people needed “confidence” to support Australia’s tourism industry.

He said the threat of snap border closures was the main concern for Australians thinking about travelling.

“It is the biggest obstacle to confidence,” Mr Tehan said on 6PR Breakfast.

“All the surveys that have been done by Tourism Australia say that it’s state border closures more than the pandemic which is now stopping people from travelling.”

He said states needed to commit to using border closures as a “last resort” moving forward.

Click PLAY below to hear the full interview

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