The Australian government has said that approving Qatar Airways’s push to increase flights to the country would go against Australia’s “national interest”, as seats on international flights remain scarce and expensive.
The Albanese government has in recent weeks defended its decision to reject a request from Qatar to fly an additional 21 services into Australia’s major airports, beyond the 28 flights a week it currently operates under existing bilateral air rights.
International air fares remain stubbornly high as demand for seats from travel-hungry Australians outstrips supply, and industry leaders have claimed allowing Qatar more capacity would have helped lower air fares.
While carriers including Qantas and other global giants are posting record profits, for many the number of seats and flights they can offer remain constrained, partly due to aircraft orders, workforce shortages and strong demand in other continents.
However, Qatar Airways has been one of few airlines in a position to operate increased services to Australia.
The transport minister, Catherine King, initially denied suggestions that her decision to reject the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority’s request was related to ongoing legal action launched by multiple Australian women against the authority and Qatar Airways.
The women are seeking damages over an October 2020 incident in which they were forcibly removed from aeroplanes at gunpoint in Doha and some were intimately examined as authorities searched for the mother of a newborn baby found abandoned in a plastic bag in the departures lounge at Hamad international airport.
While many in the aviation and tourism industries as well as state premiers supported Qatar’s plans to increase services, opponents included Qantas as well as the women behind the legal case.
The women wrote to King in June expressing concern at the prospect of Qatar Airways being granted additional landing rights. In a letter responding to them in early July, King said “as most Australians were, I was shocked by what happened to you”.
“Your experience remains in my thoughts, as well as those of my colleagues,” King wrote, telling the women the government was not considering additional bilateral air rights with Qatar.
The government had previously refused to provide reasons for its decision or link the refusal to the women’s legal case.
When Guardian Australia asked King if the refusal to grant additional air rights was related to the legal case and broader human rights concerns related to the Qatari state, a spokesperson said “the government at this time has decided not to approve the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority request for additional services, taking into account all national interest considerations”.
King’s flagging of Australia’s national interest follows recent claims that refusing Qatar additional air rights benefits Qantas, which has been more restrained in increasing its international operations post-pandemic.
An industry source familiar with the matter told Guardian Australia that while the decision to rebuff Qatar had generated questions about the influence and benefit to Qantas, foreign policy continued to be a factor.
While airlines based in countries with open skies agreements with Australia don’t have service or seat limits placed on their operations into the country, Qatar’s bilateral air rights remain limited.
“Bilateral agreements are merely an extension of foreign policy, and until foreign policy positions on Qatar change, the refusal of additional air rights is essentially a free kick to Qantas, who are profitable but aren’t expanding much right now … so this holds their competition back too,” the source said.
They suggested the government would have been lobbied as to the optics of granting Qatar additional rights.
“Qatar airways is a government-owned and backed institution, and if you provide them with increased landing rights, you’re increasing funding to a government that has been tied up with this incident in the airport, and a government that has been linked with … human rights abuses of workers and others,” the source said.
Qatar Airways declined to comment.
Qantas was contacted for comment.
