Federal Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones has retracted comments he made suggesting the government had moved to block Qatar Airways’ request for additional flights into Australia to favour national carrier Qantas’ profitability.
The Albanese government has been scrutinised heavily for rejecting the Middle Eastern airline’s bid to fly 21 extra services into Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, and more so for failing to clearly explain what sparked the decision.
Stephen Jones claims his remarks on the Qantas-Qatar saga have been wrongly interpreted in the media. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage “We can drive prices down but if we drive them down to a level where it’s actually unsustainable to run an airline, instead of having two carriers we will design our markets in a way which will make it unsustainable for the existing Australian-based carrier,” he told the AFR.
He stood by these statements on Thursday but said it didn’t at all imply special preference for Qantas – being the flagship carrier – but all airlines operating on international routes from Australia. “We see airlines falling over, customers and workers left high and dry, and we don’t want to see that happen.”
“Under our legislation and our delegations, it’s the Minister who has the discretion to make these decisions.”
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