Qantas boss Alan Joyce warns climate hysteria threatens air travel

Qantas boss Alan Joyce warns climate change hysteria could take the world back to 1920s.

Qantas Group Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce has spoken out against climate change hysteria and “flight shaming”, saying additional taxes on airlines could take the world back to the 1920s.

Climate change events were on the increase, he added, pointing to Europe’s recent record heatwave, but he warned against “throwing the baby out with the bathwater”.

His comments come after the French government last month announced an “eco-tax” on all flights from French airports would raise $300 million a year.

The Netherlands has also flagged a tax of $11.60 per passenger and the EU is facing calls for a continent-wide levy.

Airlines are also facing pressure from activists such as Swedish teen Greta Thunberg lobbying for a boycott of air travel and “shaming” those who refuse to heed their call.

Mr Joyce said the introduction of new taxes was designed to limit flights — by increasing costs on airlines and travellers — which was not the solution to climate change.

“We don’t want to go back to the 1920s and not have air ­travel,” he told the annual Centre for Aviation summit in Sydney yesterday.

“We need to make sure that we keep the baby, because it is important for the world economy to have connections.”

Airlines were taking ­action to reduce carbon emissions and waste, but in some cases that was not being communicated.

Alan Joyce at the Centre for Aviation summit in Sydney.

“The airline industry has a good story to tell because we make a difference to the world in terms of economic trade and job creation and overcoming isolation,” he said. “We know there’s an environmental impact, but the things we’re doing as an industry are fantastic. We have targets by 2050 to reduce our CO2 emissions to half the levels of 2005.”

In Australia, the weaker dollar was to blame for bringing growth in air travel to a grinding halt, ­rather than any climate change ­activism.

Centre for Aviation executive chairman Peter Harbison said ­capacity on flights to and from Australia was back to 2017 levels.

“Internationally, we are less ­attractive to foreign airlines ­because of the lower dollar, so foreign airlines are reducing capacity because they cannot make money,” he said.

Growth in the domestic market was flat, as airlines reduced ­capacity in an effort to drive up fares. “Qantas is focused on profits and Virgin on recovery,” Mr Harbison said. “Business and con­sumer confidence is weak and there are no capacity increases likely in the near term.”

In the “Golden Triangle” of Sydney-Melbourne-Brisbane, which accounts for 40 per cent of the Australian market, passenger numbers are stagnant, the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics says.

Mr Joyce acknowledged the lack of growth but said he still saw a lot of opportunities for Qantas and low-fares partner Jetstar, in a market more focused on inbound visitors than outbound.

“We may see less Australians going overseas,” he said. “But given our market share as a group is in the 20s internationally and in the 60s domestically, we see a big benefit to people coming in to the country.”