Calls have grown stronger for the federal government to explain why Qatar Airways’ flight expansion request was rejected, amidst weeks of scrutiny surrounding the decision being made to benefit Australia’s flagship carrier Qantas.
The Middle Eastern airline had sought to fly an extra 21 services a week into Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, but the request was knocked back by the government with the sole reason of the move being in the “national interest”.
Qantas actively lobbied against Qatar’s expansion bid claiming it would “distort the market”. These assertions were validated on Monday when Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones revealed theBut in an interview with Sky News Australia on Tuesday, Mr Jones’ statement was contested, with the CEO of Flight Centre saying there was much deeper government influence at play.
“It’d be interesting to hear from both Catherine King and the PM whether that’s how it happened or it didn’t happen like that.” Mr Joyce said claims that more Qatar services into Australia could drive airfares down were incorrect and the move would be of minimal benefit to the market.
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