Qantas in public spat with rival airline Qatar Airways

A rival airway has publicly condemned Qantas for a move that has allegedly “more than doubled the price” of fares.

Qatar Airways has publicly condemned Qantas for cutting its international flights in half, with the Middle Eastern airline claiming the move has “more than doubled the price” of airfares.

Akbar Al Baker, Qatar Airways chief executive, said Aussie passengers were being unfairly hit by the move, which he claimed benefits shareholders of the Aussie airline.

“The largest operator in Australia (Qantas) has cut its flights to 50 per cent of pre-Covid level, more than doubled the price of the fares to the Australian people in the benefit of the shareholders,” he told Sky News.

Qatar Airways have requested the federal government double the 28 weekly flights it is currently allowed to Australia.

The airway claims the figure is unfairly low compared to other international airlines — and claims some have been allowed up to 150 flights a week Down Under.

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Qatar Airways has publicly condemned Qantas for cutting its international flights in half, with the Middle Eastern airline claiming the move has ‘more than doubled the price’ of airfares.

Al Baker said Qantas had received “billions of dollars of state aid” throughout the pandemic.

However, aviation analyst Neil Hansford claimed the noise Qatar Airways was making over flight deals could be an attempt to avert attention away from a recent controversy over five Australian women who are suing the airline.

The women were allegedly stripsearched at gunpoint at Doha Airport.

Hansford accused the airline of being ”opportunist” and trying to ”eat everybody else‘s lunch”.

Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar Al Baker said Aussie passengers were being unfairly hit by the move, which he claimed benefits shareholders of the Aussie airline.

“Qatar Airways is totally owned by the government of Qatar, which is one of the largest natural gas producers in the world,” Hansford told Nine News.

“So it wasn‘t as if they had the pressure of shareholders (during the pandemic).

“They will do what‘s good for Qatar, and they will take every opportunity to provide more service.”

The furore came after Qantas topped the CHOICE Shonky Awards list, being described as the “spirit of disappointment” over a series of alleged failings including unusable credits, delayed flights, lost baggage and lengthy call wait times.

It comes after the consumer advocacy group earlier this year filed a complaint with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

CHOICE asked the ACCC to determine if Qantas’ terms and conditions for flight vouchers amounted to unfair contract terms, and if the airline’s communications to customers about flight credits could be classified as misleading. A determination is yet to be made.

“If there was ever a company that appeared to deliberately be going out of its way to win a Shonky award, it’s Qantas,” CHOICE travel expert Jodi Bird said.

“People are still paying premium prices to fly Qantas but it’s clear from the complaints we’ve heard, they’re not getting a premium service.”

CHOICE chief executive Alan Kirkland said Qantas deserved a Shonky award this year.

“Qantas might call itself the Spirit of Australia, but we think Spirit of Disappointment is more appropriate,” he said.

The 17th annual CHOICE Shonky Awards recognises the worst of the worst products and services uncovered by the group’s experts.