Qatar Airways using ‘ghost flights’ to bypass Australia’s aviation rules    

Qatar Airways has been exploiting a legal loophole in Australia, allowing it to run extra flights in the country by flying near-empty and in some cases, entirely empty large passenger jets daily between Melbourne and Adelaide, according to a report by the Guardian.

Qatar’s use of “ghost flights” as they are known within the aviation industry, are “taking the piss” out of Australia’s strict aviation laws, industry insiders were cited in the report as saying and are happening in spite of the Albanese government rejecting the airline’s formal request to increase flights over concerns that the extra capacity would go against Australia’s “national interest.”

Currently, the Qatari-government-owned airline is limited to flying 28 times a week into Australia’s four major airports (Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth), however no such limits apply on how many flights can be made to “non-major airports” such as Adelaide.

In doing so, Qatar Airways can fly the 354-seat Boeing 777-300ers between Melbourne and Adelaide without surpassing their weekly flight quota, although they are not permitted to sell tickets on these flights to domestic passengers under Australian aviation laws. Instead, the airline can only carry the few international passengers who have opted for this specific route, rather than the separate direct flight between Adelaide and Doha that Qatar Airways also operates.

In November 2022, it was reported by One Mile at a Time that Australia’s Qantas Airline is trying to block Qatar Airways’ growth in the country. Executives at Qantas believe that Qatar Airways growing in Australia would be unfair, as a non-government owned carrier can’t compete, especially post-coronavirus.

In addition to favouring Qantas, Guardian Australia also noted that other issues may have influenced the decision including Australian women suing Qatar Airways for damages over forced invasive bodily examinations.

READ: Qatar Airways to scrap First Class on next-gen long-haul aircraft