Coronavirus: Qatar boss warns passenger caps don’t fit service

Qatar Airways has warned it may have to withdraw flights to Australia if passenger caps are not relaxed.

Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker wants the Australian government to drop passenger caps and fill empty hotels with returning travellers.

Qatar Airways’ chief executive has warned the airline may have to withdraw flights to Australia if passenger caps are not relaxed.

The airline has maintained more flights Down Under than any other carrier during the COVID crisis carrying thousands of Australians home in the process. But strict passenger caps designed to limit the number of people going into hotel quarantine threaten to force Qatar to pull uneconomical services.

CEO Akbar Al Baker said travellers should have a choice of paying to quarantine in three-, four- or five-star hotels on their return, similar to what occurs in Qatar.

He said current caps, restricting airlines to 25 to 60 passengers a flight, were unsustainable and severely disadvantaging those who wanted to come home to Australia. “It is making things difficult, and it’s putting a great strain on the cost for us operate,” Mr Al Baker told The Australian.

“Australia is nearly 16 hours of flying from Doha so it’s a very expensive route but we are trying to mitigate by carrying cargo and maximising our yield (per seat) in order to cover the cost.”

Qatar has overtaken Qantas as the largest carrier of travellers in and out of the country this year, as a result of continued operations to Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide. Mr Al Baker said it saw the widespread suspension of flights by other airlines as a chance to continue serving customers and build loyalty. But he warned it would be difficult to keep flying if caps were maintained, and demand for airfreight fell, making services unprofitable.

“We expect the Australian government to understand the high cost … and try to facilitate more Australians returning and going into quarantine like what happens in my country,” he said.