Qantas should start acting like a national carrier: SA premier
South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas says it is a “disappointing state of play” that Qantas has not operated international flights out of Adelaide for 10 years, and to uphold its status as a national carrier it should reinstate them.
Mr Malinauskas said competitor Qatar Airways had been a big backer of South Australia during the pandemic, repatriating passengers and transporting freight when other airlines “went missing”.
However, he bypassed direct questions about whether the federal government’s decision to restrict the number of flights by Qatar to eastern states was appropriate, saying that was a matter for the Commonwealth.
SA Premier Peter Malinauskas said he would put his views to new Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson.
Qantas has not operated an international flight out of Adelaide Airport since it scrapped a direct service from Adelaide to Singapore in 2013.
“I think sometimes we’ve seen evidence of Qantas wanting to enjoy the status of being the national flag carrier,” Mr Malinauskas said on Wednesday.
“If they want to uphold that, I think they should be looking closely at Adelaide. It’s a disappointing state of play, and we’ll be encouraging Qantas to change it.”
He said he had not spoken yet to new Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson, but would put those firm views to her. His pleas to former chief executive Alan Joyce had fallen on deaf ears.
“I’ll be making it clear to Ms Hudson at an appropriate opportunity,” he said.
“It’s been, I think, a decade since Qantas has served Adelaide on an international route, We would love to see that change”.
Mr Malinauskas praised Qatar Airways for its efforts during the early stages of the pandemic.
“Qatar was flying in and out of Adelaide when others weren’t.
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