Qantas has Tiger by the tail
A Report by by Kellee Nolan in The Australian says that a stoush has developed between Australia’s main airline Qantas and its newest rival Tiger Airways over services to Alice Springs.
Even as it celebrated its first Australian domestic flights today, low-cost airline Tiger Airways was complaining that Qantas was preventing it from starting flights to the desert centre.
The budget airline said Qantas would not provide it any ground-handling services at Alice Springs Airport at any price, despite Tiger offering to rearrange its flight schedule.
Tiger Airways planned to start flying from Melbourne to Alice Springs three times a week from December 1.
Tiger Airways chief executive Tony Davis said today the airline would now have to wait until March 1 next year to fly to Alice Springs.
Several thousand passengers would have their fares refunded or their trips delayed.
He said Tiger Airways was organising a new ground handling company in Alice Springs to service its flights. “The behaviour of Qantas shows their contempt for the people of Alice Springs and certainly shows why Qantas is so desperate to maintain its dominance of the Australian domestic market,” Mr Davis said.
It is common practice in the aviation business for airlines to undertake ground handling for third party customers at commercial rates.”
Mr Davis said Qantas was the only provider of ground handling services at Alice Springs Airport and it had previously supplied Tiger Airways with ground handling services at Darwin for international flights.
“I think this is very disappointing,” Mr Davis said.
Qantas executive general manager John Borghetti said he was not in business to help his rivals.
“It is normal practice for any business to have all of its arrangements in place before it starts operating,” Mr Borghetti said.
“Assisting competitors is not part of my job description.”
Tiger Airways made its debut with flights from Melbourne to the Gold Coast, Rockhampton and Mackay and plans to begin flying from Melbourne to Perth, Adelaide, Darwin, Newcastle, Canberra, Launceston, Hobart, Alice Springs and the Sunshine Coast.
A Report by The Mole from The Australian
John Alwyn-Jones
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