Fellow travel agents are pouring cold water on the Flight Centre's suggestion that $1 airfares between New Zealand and Australia could soon be a reality.

Flight Centre says $1 airfares would reflect what is happening in Europe and North America, where competition from bargain airlines is pushing down prices.

However, the Travel Agents Association says the Pacific's comparative lack of population means such prices would be unsustainable.

And another agency, the House of Travel, says it's questionable whether the 12 airlines flying the Tasman route can maintain even current prices.

It says last week Freedom Air offered a $99 transtasman fare and no airline matched it.

The Travel Agents Association says consumers will lose out through reduced competition if carriers engage in such low fare battles and go broke.