The government's decision to block Qatar Airways from adding more weekly flights prevented airfares from being made cheaper, says the boss of the competition watchdog, as Labor's president backs a review of the government's decision.
abc.net.au/news/qatar-expansion-would-reduce-air-fares-accc-boss/102803266Allowing Qatar Airways to add more weekly flights at Australian airports would have made fares cheaper, the competition watchdog says, as pressure mounts on the government to reconsider its decision to block the airline.
But that move has been under growing scrutiny, with aviation groups struggling to stack up the government's argument, former heads of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission criticising the decision, and a promise from politicians on the crossbench and opposition to pursue the issue. Asked on RN Breakfast if allowing the expansion would have lowered airfares, Ms Cass-Gottlieb offered a one-word reply: "Yes."She added it was hard to predict by how much it could have cut prices, but quoted Virgin Australia's estimate of 40 per cent.
"We are going to seek a penalty that will underline this is not just a cost of doing business, it is to deter conduct of this nature," she said.The ACCC announced its plans on Thursday to pursue Qantas in court, alleging that between May and July 2022 the carrier continued to advertise and sell thousands of tickets for flights it had already cancelled in its system.
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