Qatar Airways chief says Australia’s decision to block flights ‘very unfair’ after pandemic support

Qatar Airways says the Australian government’s decision to block its request for extra flights was “very unfair” given the airline’s support for Australians during the pandemic. The airline’s bid to fly an extra 21 services into Australia’s major airports was rejected with ministers citing a range of reasons including it being contrary to the national interest. Qatar Airways CE, Akbar Al Baker, told CNN he was “very surprised” when the request was blocked. His comments were made while welcoming the US government’s decisions to approve more Qatar flights in the country. “We found it to be very unfair [for] our legitimate request to be not granted, especially at a time when we were so supportive of Australia,” Al Baker said. “[We were] repatriating their stranded citizens from around the world to and out of Australia, helping them receiving medical supplies and spare parts etc during the Covid period,” Al Baker said. “The national carrier and its partners completely stopped operating in Australia. We were there for the people of Australia.” During the pandemic, some of Qatar’s flights to Australia arrived with just 20 seats filled but services continued while the Qantas fleet was grounded. According to Prof Rico Merkert from the University of Sydney, Qatar temporarily became Australia’s “de facto international airline”. Al Baker’s criticism comes days before a Senate committee holds public hearings to investigate why Qatar’s request for extra flights was blocked, given the lack of competition in the aviation industry. Qantas former CE, Alan Joyce, has claimed that allowing Qatar the extra capacity would “distort” the local aviation market. The chair of the inquiry, Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie, has criticised the transport minister, Catherine King, for refusing to provide it with documents related to the Qatar decision.<br/>