Alan Joyce to be ‘summonsed’ to appear before senate inquiry

A well-timed overseas trip has delayed what was expected to be a major grilling for the former Qantas chief executive.

Former Qantas boss Alan Joyce will be “summonsed” to appear before a Senate inquiry into airservices when he returns to the country, after his lawyers indicated he would be unavailable to appear.

Inquiry chair Senator Bridget McKenzie revealed on Tuesday afternoon Mr Joyce’s lawyers had said Mr Joyce would not appear in person or via video link as “due to personal obligations while overseas”.

“The Senate Committees have the power to summons witnesses within Australia but have no enforceable powers for witnesses who are overseas,” Senator McKenzie said before the hearing.

Despite the inquiry wrapping up on October 9 this year, and there being “no indication” Mr Joyce will be back before then, Senator McKenzie said the committee would still seek to hear from the CEO at a later date.

“The Committee has therefore determined today to summons Mr Joyce upon his arrival back in Australia to appear before the Committee,” she said.

The inquiry earlier heard there is significant room for additional flights to Brisbane from Europe and slash airfares, which are 75 per cent higher than they were pre-Covid.

Brisbane Airport representatives, appearing at the Senate inquiry into airservices on Tuesday, urged the Albanese Government to “look kindly” on any new application from Qatar Airways to expand its flights in Australia.

Brisbane Airport Corporation aviation general manager Ryan Both expressed disappointment with the decisions of current and previous governments to limit flights.

“Airfares are currently 75 per cent above what it cost pre-pandemic. For the majority of normal people... that’s a significant block to tourism,” Mr Both said.

“Higher airfares restrict travel, it restricts trade, it prevents people visiting family and friends in both directions.

“Higher airfares are not good for the economy. It’s not good for choice.”

Brisbane Airport Corporation aviation general manager Ryan Both at the senate inquiry on Tuesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / John Gass

A flight from Brisbane to Doha costs about $4500, meaning a pre-Covid flight would have cost about $2570 if airfares are 75 per cent higher than pre-Covid levels.

He said only 70 per cent of international seat capacity had been recovered since Covid and there were just three direct flights to Europe at the moment, two provided by Emirates and one by Qatar.

“There’s significant room in the market that used to exist,” Mr Both said.

He said, as well as Qatar, Vietnam Airlines had hit its flight limit under the existing bilateral agreement.

The senate also heard that an international airline seeking to come to Australia, including Brisbane, before the end of the year says it has been held up by “slow” talks with the Australian Government.

It comes as Qantas and the Albanese Government are under fire for airline competition and sky-high airfares in Australia.

Turkish Airlines’ Australia and New Zealand general manager Ahmet Kutluoglu made the comments at the Senate inquiry on Tuesday.

The inquiry also heard from the Productivity Commission deputy chair Alex Robson who said “unlimited” access to Australian airports, as long as benefits outweighs costs, could bring down airfares and improve services.

Airservices Senate inquiry chair Senator Bridget McKenzie. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

While Turkish Airlines has a prior approval for seven flights a week into Australia, Mr Kutluoglu said they were seeking additional flights into the country to make it commercially viable.

“To this day we are still expecting a reply. It’s important to have a quick response. In aviation, everything is about planning,” he said.

“We have to plan six to eight months ahead in order to start. Our first plan was to start in December … now it doesn’t seem possible.

“I don’t know how long these things usually take in Australia. Usually, from our perspective, we usually act a bit quicker.”

A Qantas aircraft taking off. Picture: NCA NewsWire / James Gourley

Mr Kutluoglu decline to publicly say how many additional flights Turkish Airlines was seeking.

Access is negotiated between governments, rather than directly through the airlines.

While seven flights into Australia from Turkish Airlines were approved in 2010 they never went ahead, but the new bilateral airservice agreement talks have been going on for about a year.

Meanwhile, Mr Robson said there would be advantages to consumers and tourism if rules around the agreements between countries to allow airline access were reduced.

He said the airservice agreements could restrict competition between airlines, which harmed consumers.

“Australians may pay higher prices for worse services and inbound tourism may also suffer,” he said.

He said foreign airlines should be able to access Australian airports on an “unlimited basis”, starting with unrestricted access to Brisbane, Perth and Melbourne.

But he said this should only be done following transparent cost-benefit analysis, if that showed the benefits would outweigh the cost to the community.

Labor Senator Tony Sheldon accused the Coalition of being “more concerned about flights to Rome than flights to Roma”, but Senator McKenzie said the accusation “doesn’t fly”.