Qatar Airways boss backs support for Qantas, lifting cap on returned travellers

The CE of Qatar Airways says the Australian government should be prepared to offer national carrier Qantas financial support if the coronavirus pandemic keeps borders closed and international flights grounded. Qatar CEO Akbar Al Baker warned that if there is no coronavirus vaccine, all global airlines would either fold or be nationalised in some form. "Qantas is many times larger than Virgin Australia and what happens if Qantas is in difficulties? If I was the government, I would offer assistance to Alan [Joyce] because it is such an important economic tool," he said. Qatar Airways is state owned, and Al Baker said opponents of government support needed to be realistic about the challenges airlines face and the benefits they provide. "I'm sure that the people who are complaining about the subsidy and state aid will all go to the state for money to survive, or, because an airline is such an important economic tool, some private airlines will be nationalised, again," he said. Al Baker also called on the Australian government to remove the passenger caps that have caused a backlog of nearly 20,000 Australians stranded overseas competing for limited seats on the few flights into Australia that are operating. "I would recommend to the Australian health authorities to open up the country for at least Australians to come back who are now stranded in Europe and in other places of the world by opening up quarantine centres like it is in my country," he said.<br/>