1. Qantas is the Australian-owned flag-carrier of Australia. It should be normal and routine practice for the federal government to protect and defend it against its competitors and re-establish level playing fields if necessary, as with what happened with the Qatar rejection
2. Qatar Airways has unprecedented access to infinite oil funds to a level where they can afford to pay crew and waste fuel for completely empty flights in Australia (MEL-ADL-MEL). Qantas could never. This shows the extent of what Qatar could do and it erases the idea of supply and demand.
3. Emirates, while also having unprecedented oil fund access, has however significantly contributed to the restoration of Qantas profits in 2015 when its international arm was failing at the start of last decade - and they still maintain extensive network and loyalty ties through their continued joint venture. Emirates, and the UAE, should be rewarded.
Also,
Virgin Australia’s interests shouldn’t really be considered due to the following reasons
- They are 95% foreign owned; Australia doesn’t benefit from any positive performance from VA
- They are not a flag carrier of Australia
- They have no long haul aircraft
- They have a very limited international network, even their domestic network doesn’t make the cut; not many inland Australians destinations compared to Qantas
- They are not a full service carrier