States vie for Qantas HQ but airline likely to stay put

The contest between the states to house the Qantas headquarters is coming to a head.

Qantas HQ in Mascot. The airline will decide by the end of March where its headquarters will be based. Picture: Justin Lloyd

The contest between the states to house the Qantas headquarters is coming to a head but property players expect the airline to stay put albeit in a smaller space.

The airline has fielded lucrative offers from east coast state governments with the battle seeing them likely table tax concessions to either keep the airline or get it to shift.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian last year warned that shifting to Queensland would be a huge risk for the company, citing border closures, and the government has since made an offer to keep Qantas in Sydney.

A spokesperson for NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet told The Australian that NSW was Australia’s economic engine room, making it a logical base for the airline.

“Sydney is Australia’s only global city, so it makes sense that our national carrier should call the Premier State home,” he said. The NSW government confirmed it had made a competitive offer as part of the Qantas EOI process.

“Should NSW be shortlisted, we will progress to the next stage of the process,” he said. “Any agreement reached with Qantas will be made in the best interests of NSW taxpayers and workers.”

One option would be a new headquarters at the western Sydney aerotropolis, which may be in keeping with the airline’s desire to secure a prime position at that airport.

But property players suggested that move was unlikely with most existing staff likely to stay put if they remained with the airline. There are about 5000 Qantas jobs already at Mascot, the 1000 Jetstar jobs in Melbourne and 750 maintenance jobs in Brisbane, which could be subject to relocation, although the focus is on corporate office space.

Queensland and Victoria have also confirmed bids to host the airline’s headquarters as they attempt to stimulate jobs once international borders are reopened.

Qantas will decide by the end of March which state it will be housed in and could win substantial incentives from the NSW government, according to property figures.

Property players queried whether Qantas would move from its existing location considering its long-term arrangements with its landlord and the difficulty of making a costly and technologically complex shift.

One senior property executive said he would be “amazed “if the airline moved as it had a $400m lease tail to existing landlord Cromwell and had a separate deal in place with Sydney airport.

“My expectation is that they are simply trying to get the best deal from the NSW government,” he said.

Another developer said that once Qantas picked a state it would look at individual property deals.” My gut says they will stay in NSW [due to their] offices and logistics,” he said.

A Qantas spokeswoman said that a decision was due in the first quarter of this year.