In a new blow for hopes of direct international travel from Canberra, Qatar Airways has postponed its return to the city's airport until next year.
Its trumpeted return after the pandemic was hailed as putting the airport back on the international flight map. The airline initially said said that direct flights to and from Canberra to Doha and then on to European and Asian destinations would start on October 1 this year. Then it postponed the restart to the start of next month.
But it's now emerged that April 1 next year is the pencilled-in start-date.
"We look forward to their restart on 1 April and the resumption of international services to our city," the airport's Head of Aviation, Michael Thomson said.
He was disappointed by the delay but added: "We know Qatar is committed to Canberra and how important it is for them to connect to the Nation's Capital and the seat of government."
But he said that "we hope we will be connected to South Pacific and the Middle East by mid-year and that New Zealand will follow shortly after that".
The original glitch which prevented Qatar's return at the beginning of October was because it wanted a specialist aircraft-tugging tractor able to shunt a Qatar Airways Boeing 777 across the tarmac.
But Swissport, the global company which does the ground operations at Canberra, and the airline failed to reach a deal. A spokesman said at the time: "Swissport is in discussions to service Qatar Airways in Canberra but has not reached a final agreement."
Swissport is thought to be awaiting specifications from Qatar. Once it knows exactly what Qatar wants, it would acquire the machine on international markets.
But the delay until next April may prompt speculation that Qatar Airways is seeking some sort of withdrawal from the Canberra leg of its international flights.
Despite the promise of direct international Qatar flights from Canberra in December, customers due to fly from the airport in the middle of December have just received an email saying the flight will now start not in Canberra but in Melbourne.
One Canberran is incensed by the change because she said Qatar was not offering to pay for transport to get her to and from Melbourne for the new flight departure or when she returned in the middle of January.
"I'm annoyed and disappointed because I wouldn't have chosen Qatar it it hadn't been going from Canberra," passenger Catherine Moore said.
She said the change meant that she would have to make her own arrangements to get to and from Melbourne, and this included an overnight hotel in Melbourne because the in-coming flight arrives at 2.20am.
She put the extra cost at $1,203.56.
The return of Qatar Airways would have meant that passengers would be able to board in Canberra and pick up their luggage at European or Asian destinations rather than having to take an internal flight and then check in for the international leg at Sydney or Melbourne.
With Qatar from Canberra, passengers would go through immigration in Canberra rather than in Sydney or Melbourne, and then having to transfer to a domestic terminal.
For Qatar's return, staff would also have to be trained. That can take six months but it's understood that staff shortages at Canberra will be filled by trained staff being flown in from other states.
Canberra Airport is a bystander in the discussions between the airline and Swissport. But airport executives have also been negotiating with Singapore Airlines to try to persuade it to return but so far to no avail.
A further postponement might raise the question of whether a return to Canberra is a high priority for Qatar.
Qatar Airways was approached for comment but hadn't responded at the time of writing.
We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.
