The famous sightseeing double-decker bus will make an exciting return to the Blue Mountains following a tough couple of years
National bus institution the Blue Mountains Explorer Bus has announced it will once again return to its full seven day service from December 17.
The red double-decker sightseeing fleet of buses will once again be back on route following a challenging three years with the COVID pandemic.
Following repeat lockdowns, the Explorer fleet was indefinitely halted in July 2021.
Yet one of the longest running tourism companies in Australia’s first tourist destination is back this summer.
Fantastic Aussie Tours (FAT) runs the fleet, with managing director Jason Cronshaw saying the company recently ran one bus around the circuit on Saturdays and public holidays.
“Without international visitors, it just wasn’t viable to do more than that,” Cronshaw told Australian Seniors News.
“Now that the number of overseas guests is growing, we can operate seven days once more, albeit with just one bus.”
The company was previously forced to sell four of its six double-decker buses, meaning the operator lost half of its fleet.
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Bushfires and then COVID lockdowns crippled the business, before the operator closed indefinitely.
“It just wasn’t viable to drive a 77-seater bus out of the depot for one or two people,” Cronshaw says.
“It costs us $3.50 per kilometre on a 26 kilometre circuit and tickets are $49 for an all-day pass. The maths didn’t add up.”
Yet it is now looking optimistic for the operator. Cronshaw says he has no expectations for the return to service, but he’s happy to be back running the famous sightseeing bus.
“I’m not holding my breath for pre-pandemic visitation numbers for a while yet,” Cronshaw says.
“But we are seeing a steady influx of international guests.”