‘Shocked’ Qatar was ‘not told of concerns’ before flights blocked
Qatar Airways says it was “surprised and shocked” that an application to lift services to Australia was rejected by the Albanese government, and told a senate inquiry it did not believe it had been given good reasons the decision.
Airline executive Fahti Atti told the inquiry on Wednesday the government had not raised with it many of the public justifications used to explain the rejection, such as the invasive strip searches of 13 Australian citizens at Doha Airport in 2020, before the airline learned its application was unsuccessful via the media in early July.
The Australian Financial Review revealed on July 18 that Transport Minister Catherine King had blocked the application to add 28 more flights a week to Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth – effectively doubling its capacity to and likely putting downward pressure on airfares – in a letter to the women.
Top Qatar Airways executives Matt Raos and Fatti Atti fronted a Senate committee on Wednesday morning. Alex Ellinghausen
But the airline told the senate committee it was not formally notified about the decision until July 21. The decision has fuelled the crisis at Qantas, which fought against the extra Qatar flights, which experts say would add competition to the aviation market. Among reasons the government has given for blocking the Qatar request, Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones said the government was motivated to protect Qantas’ profits,
Flying to smaller airports, like Adelaide or Darwin, instead of the far larger gateways like Sydney or Melbourne on the east coast was “never on the table”, Mr Atti told the inquiry.
Further, the airline could not put bigger aircraft on existing Australian services because it was already using an Airbus A380. Mr Atti is
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