The practice of airlines giving out upgrades to high-profile travellers is unlikely to end soon despite the furore over the prime minister's travel arrangements, an aviation expert says.
A political storm has emerged after a book claimed Anthony Albanese received 22 upgrades from economy from Qantas and would liaise personally with the airline's ex-chief executive Alan Joyce for the perks.
Mr Albanese has rejected the allegations, releasing a statement where he denied contacting Mr Joyce for the upgrades.
"The prime minister did not ever call Alan Joyce seeking an upgrade," a spokesman for Mr Albanese said.
"All travel has been appropriately declared and is a matter of public record."
The prime minister later clarified he never sought out Mr Joyce for upgrades by other means of communication such as text or email.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said Mr Albanese had not been fully transparent on the flight upgrades.
"The prime minister just continues to dig deep. If he was just honest on day one, then this issue would be dealt with," he told reporters in Perth.
"It took five days to get some sort of a statement out of the prime minister. Nothing he said in the five day period was coherent ."
The debate also forced Mr Dutton to clarify his own travel arrangements after he conceded his office asked for free flights from mining billionaire Gina Rinehart.
Despite the outcry, Central Queensland University head of aviation Doug Drury said the boosts for high-profile travellers would continue.
"(Upgrades) bear that favouritism towards a certain class over others ... it all comes down to how much you use the system and how much you travel, and frequent flyers get all the better perks," he told AAP.
"The airlines want to keep that business because they're making millions of dollars because of selling bulk-priced ticketing."
While the practice of upgrading valued travellers differs between airlines, Professor Drury said some would be more likely to do so than others.
"An airline like Qantas is scrambling like mad to win back the hearts and minds of its frequent flyer group, which is in the millions, and they will work and try to accommodate requests for upgrades," he said.
"If your organisation does a lot of business with an airline, then you are considered a premium client."
A key critic of the prime minister's travel, opposition transport spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie, has launched a probe into her own upgrades by airlines.
Reports emerged that Senator McKenzie received an upgrade in 2024 and did not disclose it.
The coalition senator said she had gone through her own travel records from 2011 onwards.
"In my public comments I said to the best of my knowledge all flights had been appropriately declared and that I had not personally solicited an upgrade. However, I try not to hold others to a standard to which I would not hold myself," she said in a statement.
"Consequently, yesterday I wrote to the three major domestic airlines, Qantas, Virgin and the administrators for Regional Express, seeking their assistance to provide me with a full history of upgrades and flights I may have been in receipt of."
Senator McKenzie said she would make changes to her parliamentary declarations if there were any inconsistencies.
Mr Dutton said Senator McKenzie's actions were in contrast to those of the prime minister.
"The issue is not with the upgrades, it's how they were asked for," he said.
"Bridget's gone through a process now. She'll deal with that."
