Australia’s Qantas to pay $79m over ‘ghost flights’ furore

Qantas has agreed to compensate more than 86,000 customers who bought tickets for already cancelled flights in 2021 and 2022 [Phil Noble/Reuters]

​​Australia’s flagship airline Qantas has agreed to pay $120 million Australian dollars ($79m) to settle a lawsuit over the sale of tickets for already cancelled flights.

The airline will pay a fine of 100 million Australian dollars ($66m) and provide compensation of 20 million Australian dollars ($13m) to more than 86,000 customers after advertising seats for thousands of “ghost flights” in 2021 and 2022.