Flight Centre has launched an advertising campaign in a bid to overturn the Federal Government’s decision to block Qatar Airways adding more flights into the country.
Chief Executive Graham Turner said the industry urgently needs more competition in time for Christmas, to bring down prices for travellers.
“It’s pretty obvious, we just don’t have the capacity into Australia at the moment,” he told Weekend Today.
“We think the capacity is at about 75 per cent internationally and obviously the demand is enormous and airfares are too expensive.
“A lot of people can’t afford the sort of airfare prices. There are some good specials around but on average they are about 40 or 50 per cent more expensive than pre-COVID and this is important to Australia.”
Flight Centre is now rolling out advertisements in newspapers across the country.
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“This decision just doesn’t stack up, there’s no logic to it,” Graham said.
Transport Minister Catherine King said there was nothing extraordinary about the decision to veto Qatar’s expansion plans.
Industry groups hope the federal government will change its mind quickly, in time for families booking Christmas flights.
“Clearly this decision rests with the Australian Government,” Acting Queensland Premier Steven Miles said.
“It is their decision to make but we do share the sentiment of Flight Centre, we would like to see as many flights into Queensland as we possibly can.”
