Alan Joyce claims competition would 'distort' Australian aviation
The outgoing Qantas CEO has defended the government's decision to block Qatar Airways from adding flights to Australia.
The nation's biggest airline Qantas just printed a record profit at a time when ticket prices for flights are at or near record highs. But its outgoing CEO Alan Joyce has dismissed suggestions the airline should face more international competition, and instead claimed that allowing more flights into Australia would distort the aviation market.
The federal government last month rejected a bid from Qatar Airways to offer one additional flight per day from Doha to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. On Thursday, Joyce told media at the company's results presentation that the controversial decision was justified.
“There shouldn’t be rights granted when there’s a huge amount of capacity being put back in the market,” Joyce said. “Doubling those rights could actually distort the market.”
Qatar’s bid was for 21 additional flights per week. It currently operates 28 under existing arrangements. Joyce said that 6.4 million international seats were expected to be added to the market this financial year as airlines boost capacity.
