Australia blocks 21 new Qatar Airways flights, says ‘invasive’ searches a factor

View of the Qatar Airways 777-200.

In July, with little warning, Australia turned down a bid from Qatar Airways to launch an additional 21 flights a week to the country.

The bid to double capacity from Doha was denied by Cabrera, to the shock of airports and the travel industry.

The Australian government was accused of protectionism, with some saying the bid was blocked to benefit national carrier Qantas.

Qatar already operates 28 weekly flights to Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

Now transport secretary Catherine King, says that an incident involving “invasive” strip-searches influenced the decision.

In October 2020 women on a Sydney-bound Qatar Airways flight were accused of leaving a newborn baby in the bathroom of Hamad International Airport Doha. The group, including 13 Australians and one New Zealander, were subjected to gynaecological examinations to determine the mother’s identity

“Certainly, it wasn’t the only factor,” King told a news conference on Thursday.

“There was no one factor that influenced this decision.”

The airline and the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority are being sued by five Australian women over the incident, according to AlJazeera. The group have petitioned the Transport Minister over the issue.

King formally rejected Qatar Airways’ bid to add flights to three Australian cities in July, stating it was not in Australia’s national interests to increase capacity to Doha.

Transport Minister Catherine King says the 2020 incident was part of the reason she refused to allow Qatar Airways to double services to Australia. Photo / Lukas Coch, AP

Qatar Airways returns with Doha-Auckland direct

This week Qatar airways resumed its Doha to Auckland service - one of the longest passenger routes in the world.

The world’s third-longest flight, QR920 arrived on Friday 1 September, with little publicity.

Qatar is back for the first time in years, with daily direct flights between the Persian Gulf and New Zealand.

Now with these additional long-range aircraft unable to fly routes into Australia, it is uncertain where the planes will be reallocated.

A spokesperson for the airline told the Herald, they were not providing comment at this stage.

Flight Centre chief executive Graham ‘Skroo’ Turner said Australia’s “got up the nose” of travellers who were sick of paying historically high prices for flights. The travel agency boss told the Daily Mail Australians could be paying around 40 per cent less on flights to Doha and Europe, if the the bid had been accepted.

Flight Centre took out an advertising campaign to support Qatar’s failed bid under the tag line “Let ‘em fly”.

The Qatar airways flights is the latest scandal to emerge from the maelstrom swirling around Australian aviation.

On Tuesday Qantas CEO Alan Joyce resigned, two months ahead of schedule, after mounting criticism of the airline. Controversies include claims it sold 8000 seats on flights it knew it had already cancelled.

The Australian carrier also made drastic changes to its Covid Credit policy, which are now the subject of a class action lawsuit from passengers who claim they were mis-sold credit during the pandemic.

Qantas, which recently reported record annual profits, is thought to hold over $500 million in passenger credits.

- with AP reporting