A senate inquiry has heard Virgin Australia was collateral damage after Qatar Airways’ attempt to increase flights to Australia was rejected.
Virgin Australia has called on the federal government to work with the carrier in future dealings with Qatar Airways, after it blocked the gulf carrier from doubling its flights to Australia last month.
Virgin has a codeshare partnership with Qatar Airways, which means it would have profited from the additional bilateral air rights.“We would describe this decision as deeply regrettable and a source of deep disappointment. The unintended consequence is that it negatively impacts the competitive position of Virgin Australia domestically and internationally in favour of our larger rival,” Bennett told the inquiry.
Rival Qantas, which has the same codeshare arrangement with Emirates, sits at 43 per cent across those routes. Qantas flies twice a day to London through Singapore and three times a week to Rome in peak periods.“We chose Qatar as a historically strong support to Australian aviation, and they’re a world-class product. We would hope we can find a way to solve this impasse through a constructive solution-orientated discussion with the government as we are collateral damage,” Bennett said.
Newly minted chief executive of Qantas International Cam Wallace said the backlash surrounding the Qatar decision had been overblown. Qantas did not support the additional flights despite Qatar and Qantas being members of the Oneworld alliance.“The current debate on traffic rights completely distorts the broader dynamics in the market at the moment, and how competitive it is,” Wallace said.
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