Akbar Al Baker says request for more flights into Australia was ‘legitimate’ at a time the airline was ‘so supportive of Australia’
“We found it to be very unfair [for] our legitimate request to be not granted, especially at a time when we were so supportive of Australia,” Al Baker said.
“The national carrier and its partners completely stopped operating in Australia. We were there for the people of Australia.” Qantas former chief executive, Alan Joyce, has claimed that allowing Qatar the extra capacity would “distort” the local aviation market., has criticised the transport minister, Catherine King, for refusing to provide it with documents related to the Qatar decision.
McKenzie has accused the federal government of having a “cosy, personal and political relationship” with Qantas.Al Baker told CNN he was aware of the Senate inquiry and was “always hopeful” the Australian government would listen to the airline’s case and reassess its request.
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