Qantas denies price gouging after ex-ACCC chair's report

Qantas has again denied accusations of price gouging following the release of a report by former ACCC chairman Allan Fels. The report, commissioned by the ACTU, stated bluntly that “the duopoly in the aviation sector in Australia is dominated by Qantas and there is price gouging by Qantas”, and called for “unnecessary restrictions on competition” in domestic and international aviation to be removed. “Qantas fare increases over the three months to December 2022 were large enough to produce a sizable increase in the ‘holiday travel and accommodation’ contribution to inflation, possibly up to 25% of the increase that quarter as it appeared in the ABS CPI measure,” Fels wrote. “A quarter of the inflation that month was mainly due to Qantas aggressively raising airfares, although Virgin may have also contributed.” In a statement responding to the report, the Flying Kangaroo said that both it and Jetstar “appreciate the importance of affordable air travel”, and pointed to BITRE data showing a decline in average airfares from their peak in December 2022. “The temporary spike in fares post-COVID reflected reductions in capacity to improve operational resilience following the challenging restart of the industry once borders opened,” said Qantas. “These reductions coincided with a period of high demand and the imbalance pushed up fares across all airlines. At the same time, fuel prices increased by more than 60%, driving fares higher again. “Sale fares are frequently available, with Qantas offering an average of 17 network-wide sales per year and Jetstar offering 10m fares for less than $100 last year.”<br/>