Flight Centre boss Graham Turner rips into Qatar Airways rejection after Anthony Albanese sided with Qantas

The CEO of a leading travel agency has rejected a decision not to allow Qatar to operate more flights in Australia, which would have made tickets cheaper for Australians.

Flight Center boss Graham ‘Skroo’ Turner said the decision “failed” travelers, with the agency running full-page ads protesting the measure.

Qatar Airways faced backlash after the airline requested up to 29 additional weekly flights from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Australians could have paid 40 percent less for flights if the Doha-based airline’s bid had been approved.

Qantas had lobbied against the proposal, claiming it would ‘distort the market’ as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese would side with the airline, and his decision sparked outrage and public criticism of his relationship with Alan Joyce.

Flight Center’s advertisements protesting the rejection of Qatar’s bid read “More seats lower prices” and called for “Let ’em fly.”

The adverts were approved by Mr Turner, who lashed out at the government.

“It’s amazing how much this particular government decision has gone up the nose of the average Australian,” Turner told the newspaper. Courier mail.

He said Flight Center’s ad campaign would continue “unless the government steps in” and reverses the controversial decision.

The government justified its rejection of Qatar Airways’ application as being in the “national interest”.

The main beneficiary of the decision was Qantas, whose reputation has never been worse after repeated controversies including ticket sales for canceled flights, flight delays, staff shortages and baggage handling horror stories.

Qantas is facing a deceptive conduct over ticketing lawsuit in Federal Court brought by Australia’s competition watchdog, which also confirmed that the flag carrier is the country’s most sued company.

But the government’s decision has proved hugely unpopular not only with the public, but also with its own allies.

Labor National President Wayne Swan called for the decision to be reviewed.

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission boss Gina Cass-Gottlieb said prices would have fallen if Qatar had been allowed to operate more flights.

Virgin Australia estimated that air fares could have fallen by as much as 40 per cent if the decision had gone the other way.

The airfare controversy stems from a growing discomfort over Albanese’s special relationship with Joyce.

Mr Joyce, who has been awarded bonuses of up to $10 million, has seen the flag carrier’s reputation with the public steadily decline, albeit at a time when all airlines were suffering as people stopped traveling due to the Covid pandemic.

The ACCC also confirmed that it “continues to receive more complaints about Qantas than any other company” on the same day it announced its action in Federal Court.

The competition watchdog alleges that Qantas “engaged in false, misleading or deceptive behavior by advertising tickets for more than 8,000 flights it had already canceled but not removed from sale.”

The ACCC claims it continued to sell tickets for more than two weeks on average, and in some cases up to 47 days.

It is also alleged that the airline failed to inform existing ticket holders for 10,000 flights that they had been canceled for an average of 18 days and up to 48 days between May and July 2022.

As a result, customers had less time to make alternative arrangements, which may have resulted in them paying higher prices.

Qantas canceled a quarter of its flights between May and July 2022, amounting to about 15,000, the watchdog said.

“As a result, we have initiated this proceeding alleging that Qantas continued to sell tickets for thousands of canceled flights, likely affecting the travel plans of tens of thousands of people,” Ms Cass-Gottlieb said.

“This case is not about an alleged violation of the actual cancellation of flights, but about the actions of Qantas after it canceled the flights.”

The ACCC demands fines, court orders, declarations and costs.

Mr Joyce will retire at Qantas’ annual shareholders’ meeting in November, a date when he could celebrate his 15-year term in office.

He faced fierce criticism last week during a fierce critique from politicians at a Senate hearing.

Labor MPs would not have liked to hear Mr Joyce confirm that he had been friends with Mr Albanese for ‘years’ during his meeting with the Senate’s Cost of Living Committee on Monday, with those two words effectively confirmed how close the two men were. had become.

At the hearing, Mr Joyce also declined to answer questions about his decision to grant the Prime Minister’s son a membership in the prestigious Chairman’s Lounge and was asked if he was “ashamed” of his $24 million salary.

Faced with the reality of legal action in the Federal Court, Qantas backed out on a controversial deadline that threatened to strip passengers of their $370 million worth of flight credits.

Qantas customers owed flight refunds, whereas previously they had to claim them at the end of December.

The huge backlog of travel credits created during the Covid pandemic, when flights were canceled worldwide due to widespread border closures.

The rollback will allow customers whose flights are canceled before October 2021 to keep flight credits indefinitely for refund, Qantas confirmed on Thursday.

They are also offering a limited-time deal to double their Frequent Flyer points for flights booked with relevant travel credits before December 31, 2023.

“The Qantas Group will scrap the expiration date of Covid travel credits due to expire at the end of this year,” a spokesman said.

Qantas customers with Covid credits can request a cash refund, and Jetstar customers can use their Covid vouchers for flights indefinitely.