Leading figures including former treasurer Peter Costello and ACCC head Rod Sims have criticised the government’s Qatar Airways decision.
The federal government’s blueprint to boost competition in the domestic aviation market to help drive down plane ticket prices will be released within days, with Qantas and Virgin in its sights.
Peter Costello, head of the Future Fund, said on Wednesday it was hard to understand the government’s decision not to allow Qatar the extra flights. “We haven’t really had a good explanation in relation to the whole Qatar issue and that’s unfortunate. When you are taking actions that have the effect – because there’s no doubt they do – of decreasing competition and maintaining higher airfares, you need really clear explanations,” he told ABC radio.
The terms of reference for the aviation inquiry mean it will focus almost exclusively on domestic issues. International airline agreements such as those covering Qatar are done at a government level rather than by individual airlines. The government has been under pressure from swathes of the aviation and tourism sector to act on recommendations from former Productivity Commission chair Peter Harris, who was engaged in 2020 to deliver a report on Sydney Airport’s slot management scheme.Harris told a House of Representatives inquiry last month his recommendations would create a more competitive environment for airlines but are yet to be implemented.
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