Qantas has been ""aggressively raising airfares"", said former head of Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Allan Fels in his 'inquiry into price gouging and unfair pricing practices' report for Australian Council of Trade Unions. Fels said that Qantas fare increases during the fourth quarter of 2022 had caused significant increase to holiday travel and accommodation's contribution to inflation, ""possibly up to 25% of the increase that quarter"".
""The duopoly in the aviation sector in Australia is dominated by Qantas and there is price gouging by Qantas,"" the report stated. ""This is illustrated by the blocking of Qatar expansion without reasonable justification.""
Furthermore, Fels noted the ""blocking of Qatar airlines to the Australian market"" and how Qatar had essentially ""offered a solution to the extremely high prices that were being charged for international travel."" The report found that the likely effect of Qatar offering to ""add heavily to capacity by making available multiple planes and multiple seats"" would have seen a 40% reduction from international fares.
""However, this proposal was blocked by the Australian government,"" said Kels. ""Quite clearly it was acting in the interests of Qantas. Following the expression of public concern, the Government has launched a discussion paper on future aviation policy. It is important that this paper deals with serious restrictions on competition.""
Fels said: ""The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts should in its review remove unnecessary restrictions on competition on both international and domestic aviation."" He added: ""It should also review and remove anticompetitive restrictions on allocation of slots at airports."" Additionally, the report recommended that restrictions on international aviation that are harmful to consumers should be removed.
Qantas ""aggressively raising airfares"", report finds
