Virgin CEO says Qatar flights could see airfares drop up to 40%

Virgin CEO says Qatar flights could see airfares drop up to 40%
By Zach Havard


Jane Hrdlicka believes airfares may have dropped up to 40 per cent if Qatar Airways received approval for a recent application for more flights into Australia.

The chief executive of Virgin said that one additional flight to Sydney Melbourne and Brisbane each day, as well as a flight to Perth, would have a major impact on the cost of flights.

Speaking to ABC Radio, Hrdlicka said, “Airfares are about 50 per cent higher today than they were pre-COVID.”

“Airfares are abnormally high today… The statistics say that two-thirds of seats that we are flying in and out of Australia and back and on third of seats are not yet back.

“If we get those seats back, airfares will be as low as they possibly could be.

“You know, I guess that would be a reduction of at least a third, maybe 40 per cent reduction in airfares.”

Hrdlicka also criticised the comments of Assistant Treasurer, Stephen Jones which claimed that driving prices down would be unsustainable for the national carrier.

“I’m sure that every CEO in the country was disappointed to hear that there’s one company in the country that should be protected,” she said.

While Hrdlicka’s sentiment is shared among the majority of the travel and tourism industry, it must be said that Virgin holds a codeshare agreement with Qatar Airways – much like Qantas’ tie-up with Emirates which sees them hold around 45 per cent of Australia to Europe market – and would be a beneficiary of any new flights granted to the Qatari carrier.

Featured Image – Virgin CEO, Jane Hrdlicka. Source: Virgin Australia YouTube – Introducing Virgin Australia’s new CEO, Jayne Hrdlicka.

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