Minister blocks bid to bring down airfares, boost tourism
The Australian government has terminated a request from Qatar Airways to add more Australian routes, dashing hopes that consumers might get relief from high international airfares.
In a move that should boost Qantas’ international earnings, Transport Minister Catherine King said: “The Australian government is not considering additional bilateral air rights with Qatar”.
The Australian Financial Review reported in June that Ms King was considering Qatar Airways’ request as part of a broader agreement with the Gulf state that is being negotiated by Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell.
Nationals MP and opposition spokesman on tourism Kevin Hogan said it was disappointing and did not make sense for travellers. “I strongly support competition in the sector and more slots for airlines like Qatar would be beneficial to our slow recovery in international tourism,” Mr Hogan said.
Sources said Qatar Airways both maintained services for stranded Australians, and also played a significant role in evacuating Australians when Kabul fell to the Taliban in August 2021, and had been seeking an expansion to its landing rights in a show of goodwill.
The bid was understood to have had the support of state premiers keen to see more international tourists return. But another industry source said granting Qatar more landing rights would potentially destabilise the landscape as other airlines return to full capacity.
A group of women who allege they were taken off a Qatar Airways flight in Doha at gunpoint and stripped, then subjected to invasive searches, wrote to Ms King in July urging her to consider the airline’s “insensitive and irresponsible treatment of us and its failure to ensure the safety and dignity of its passengers”.
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