Gulf jets get a flying start on our runway

[gilby08]

ANY would-be Aussie backpacker or holiday-maker today can jump on the internet, search for flights to Europe and find that it's easy to fly to London or Frankfurt and return for as little as $1200.
These extremely cheap flights, combined with a soaring Australian dollar, means that a holiday in Europe has never been more affordable.

But there is a downside to this new airfare price war. And it may be more than we really want to pay.

Last week, in an announcement that didn't attract much attention, the Federal Government increased the number of flights that gulf state airlines like Etihad, Emirates and Qatar Airlines could operate to and from Australia.

Ostensibly, these flights are meant to be from Australian cities to places like Doha, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

But, as their advertising will tell you, the reality is that these airlines are marketing themselves as the cheap way to get to Europe.

First off i'm actually suprised News.com.au allowed this peice to go into their newspapers and published online.

But i totally agree with the writer of this article though..
Gulf jets get a flying start on our runway | The Daily Telegraph

 

[notzac]

That's a really disgustingly nationalistic op-ed piece .. though it's entertaining that NoNews published a pro-QF article like that.

 

[Jeffrey O'Neill]

While some of what the article says is correct, there is some blatant errors as well. It maybe be possible to subsidise the Gulf Airlines fuel in their home countries, but they will have to pay full rate at the ohter end of the flight.

Where the Guld airlines do get a big leg up is the lack of taxation on profits, which generall means they have 30% more funding for the airline than sya compared to QF. Then again SQ, TG, CX also operate in countries where the corporate tax rate is far lower than in Australia.

What I would like to see is the Government getting more landing rights for Australian airlines so that QF, VA can compete, if the economic case is there for the route.

 

[dajop]

From the article:

And, losing money on those routes could lead to the situation where Qantas stops flying on many of its less profitable regional domestic routes in Australia, which a nation as large and as sparsely-populated as ours relies so heavily on.

Really? I thought QF made money on QF link, and others seem to step into the fold where QF fail. Then there's Rex, and even DJ get in on the act. And QF are pretty quick to transfer unprofitable routes to JQ.

 

[oz_mark]

That's a really disgustingly nationalistic op-ed piece .. though it's entertaining that NoNews published a pro-QF article like that.

So Qantas and the AWU do agree on some things...

 

[anat0l]

Considering that there are a quite a few people who wouldn't be caught dead flying our national carrier, I would've thought there would be next to no one who would care for this decision.

This is our government's doing, who do not own QF any more. So they obviously don't care at all. QF would be lucky if the government cares about them any more than the late AN.

Besides, not all "Australian" options are technically doomed if this goes ahead, keeping in mind that (weakly) QF and EY have codeshares (except not EY beyond AUH), and DJ and EK have both codeshares and FFP reciprocal earning and burning power. Who knows - perhaps DJ will be the new flag carrier.....