The Australian government will run a parliamentary inquiry into a decision to prevent Qatar Airways (QR, Doha Hamad International) from accessing additional landing rights at key Australian airports. The inquiry, which the Liberal National Opposition Party proposed, made it through the Senate approvals process this week by a single vote.
The current air services agreement allows Qatar Airways to operate a maximum of 28 roundtrips a week into Sydney Kingsford Smith, Melbourne Tullamarine, Brisbane International, and Perth International Airports. Based on a single daily roundtrip into each airport, this allocation is currently at capacity. There are no caps on flights to other Australian airports. Qatar Airways had requested to go double daily into Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane - an additional 21 roundtrips per week. The proposal was widely supported by the tourism and travel industry, which say extra capacity into Australia is badly needed. The airline had also generated considerable goodwill by maintaining services to Australia during the pandemic when many others, including the local flag carrier Qantas (QF, Sydney Kingsford Smith), temporarily exited the market.
But in a surprise decision, the Australian government denied Qatar's request in July, setting off a firestorm of controversy in Australia. The government has yet to provide a solid reason for the denial. Since then, questions have emerged about potential conversations between Qantas officials and the Australian government about the Qatari application and whether the veto was an attempt to protect Qantas and its market share into Europe. Qantas, along with its joint venture partner airline, Emirates (EK, Dubai International), has a 43% market share on the Australia - Europe routes in terms of seating capacity. One opposition MP has accused the Australian government of running "a protection racket for the most-complained-about company (Qantas) in this country."
The inquiry, formally known as the Select Committee on Commonwealth Bilateral Air Service Agreements, will comprise three opposition members, two government members and two crossbenchers. They will look at any proposals received in the past 12 months for additional services to Australia's major airports. The current Qantas CEO, Vanessa Hudson, along with recently departed CEO Alan Joyce, will likely be asked to give evidence and detail any conversations they had on the matter with government officials. Qatar Airways and the Qatari Ambassador to Australia will also be asked to attend. The inquiry is currently inviting submissions and is expected to issue a final report on October 9, 2023.
Meanwhile, in what may foreshadow a significant backdown by the Australian government, Trade Minister Don Farrell did a round of media interviews on September 6, indicating that Qatar Airways should reapply. "Companies can always put in a further application for consideration, and Qatar is welcome to do that,” he said.
