Qantas Airways has agreed to a A$120 million settlement with the Australian consumer watchdog after acknowledging the sale of thousands of tickets for flights that had already been cancelled in 2022.
As part of the settlement, the airline will pay a civil penalty of A$100 million. Additionally, it will provide about $20 million in compensation to more than 86,000 customers who purchased tickets for these canceled flights or were reaccommodated on them after their original flights were canceled.
The airline stated that Domestic ticketholders will receive A$225, while international ticketholders will receive A$450. These payments are in addition to any remedies already provided by Qantas, such as alternative flights or refunds.
The airline noted that the impact of the remediation program and penalty will be recognised as an expense in its statutory income statement for the year ended 30 June 2024.
The ACCC said it launched Federal Court action against Qantas in August 2023 alleging that, between 21 May 2021 and 7 July 2022, Qantas advertised tickets for more than 8,000 cancelled flights. It was also alleged that, for more than 10,000 flights scheduled to depart in May to July 2022, Qantas did not promptly notify existing ticketholders that their flights had been cancelled.
The ACCC reported that Qantas has now admitted that its misconduct continued from 21 May 2021 until 26 August 2023, affecting tens of thousands of flights scheduled to depart between 1 May 2022 and 10 May 2024.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Business News