Summary
- Qatar Airways is “shocked and surprised” after their request for added weekly flights to Australia was rejected.
- The airline claims that the federal government didn’t provide a reason for rejecting their application and that they discovered concerning the decision through the media, slightly than from the federal government directly.
- There are suggestions that the rejection could also be influenced by the federal government’s close relationship with Qantas.
Qatar Airways officials have appeared before an Australian senate inquiry into the airline industry. The Middle Eastern carrier was recently denied permission to extend flights into the country, a choice it says it’s “shocked and surprised” by.
Qatar Airways flight application rejection
The Qatari airline had requested an extra 21 weekly flights into Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, but this was rejected by Australian authorities in July. The carrier currently operates 28 weekly flights to Australia’s 4 largest airports – Brisbane Airport (BNE), Melbourne Airport (MEL), Perth Airport (PER), and Sydney International Airport (SYD) – contributing around $3 billion to the national economy, which might have doubled if its flight application was accepted.
Photo: Seth Jaworski | Shutterstock
Qatar Airways’ senior vice chairman of worldwide sales, Matt Raos, appeared before a committee this morning. In his opening remarks, Raos commented,
Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker recently labeled the choice as “very unfair” – there are suggestions that the federal government’s close relationship with Qantas influenced the choice, with Chairman Richard Goyder set to seem before the committee later today. As reported by ABC News, Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka claimed the federal government modified its stance on Qatar’s application only after former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce expressed his dissatisfaction.
No reason given
Qatar Airways claims the federal government provided “no reason for rejecting our application,” adding that it only discovered concerning the decision through the media slightly than formally from the federal government.
Photo: Minh K Tran | Shutterstock
Raos noted,
Qatar Airways became Australia’s leading international carrier in 2020, operating as much as 48,000 weekly seats in the course of the pandemic.
Strip-search incident
Federal Transport Minister Catherine King rejected Qatar’s flight application after signing a letter to 5 Australian women involved in a strip-search incident in Qatar in 2020. The five women were a part of a gaggle of 13 female passengers pulled from a Qatar Airways flight and strip-searched after a premature baby was present in a terminal bathroom at Hamad International Airport – they at the moment are suing the airline through Australia’s Federal Court.
Raos added,
Qatar Airways’ senior vice chairman of aeropolitical and company affairs, Fathi Atti, said the search incident was never formally raised with the airline during its application.
Why do you think that the Australian government rejected Qatar Airways’ application to operate more flights? Tell us your opinions within the comments.