Queenslanders living in regional and remote parts of the state are paying sky-high airfares to travel to and from Brisbane, a situation that has prompted veteran MP Bob Katter to lash out.
Qantas, Virgin Australia and Rex currently serve areas such as Mount Isa, Longreach and Rome, with customers being charged more than $1,200 to fly back to Brisbane on some flights.
Katter, who has been a Kennedy backseat member for decades, said regional Queenslanders were paying double what they should for flights and were being used to subsidize flights where major airlines had competition.
The veteran maverick MP said Qantas used its “huge profit margin” to subsidize international flights but there was no competition within Australia.
The MP said people in Mount Isa, Townsville and Rome were being charged double what they should be charged.
“I’ll tell you one thing about Qantas: it’s not the spirit of Australia,” he said.
“(Former chief executive Alan) Joyce might be gone but his spirit lives on and that spirit is not the spirit of Australia.”
Katter said the “tyranny of distance” had seen his father and uncle die because there were no planes available to take them for urgent medical care, which was a big problem for people living in regional and remote areas.
Queenslanders living in regional and remote parts of the state are paying sky-high airfares to travel to and from Brisbane, a situation that has prompted veteran MP Bob Katter to lash out (file image)
“In the United States, you are never more than 150 kilometers from a city with half a million or a million people,” he said.
‘Well, 90 per cent of the service here in Quyeeensland is more than 150 kilometers from a big city, so we are fundamentally different from other countries.
“I’m going to try to get the three branches of government and the mining companies together and see if we can issue an ultimatum, either we do it or we take away all their business.”
The ABC reported that Qantas had redeployed its Boeing 737 aircraft and was using smaller planes to serve remote Queensland towns until April next year, making it difficult for passengers to find flights.
Elsewhere in the state, passengers traveling from Longreach to Brisbane arrived to find their luggage had been left behind due to weight restrictions.
Longreach resident Amelia Jones told ABC she recently traveled to the Queensland capital with her family for surgery, when they arrived at their destination they discovered their suitcases had been left behind.
‘It was a bit of panic. “All my hospital documents were in those bags, everything we needed… plus all the baby’s stuff too,” Jones told ABC.
The Western Australian government introduced a scheme in 2022 to reduce flight costs for residents in regional and remote areas across the state after residents paid up to $1000 to fly back to Perth.
Qantas, Virgin Australia and Rex currently serve areas such as Mount Isa, Longreach and Rome, with customers being charged more than $1200 to fly back to Brisbane on some flights.
The plan has cost taxpayers $105 million and ensures airfares have a maximum ticket price of $199 or $299 each way.
It is funded until June of next year.
Major airlines came under fire this week after the ACCC published a report which found domestic airfares between capital cities had risen on average 13.3 per cent after Rex pulled out of major cities in July.
The report revealed that flights between Adelaide and Melbourne almost doubled, increasing by 95 per cent.
The report was released on the same day the federal government announced an $80 million lifeline for embattled airline Rex to continue serving regional and remote parts of Australia, extending its voluntary administration period until July 2025.
Qantas and Virgin have been contacted for comment.