More questions, no answers, about Turkish flights take-off

All the dodgy ducking and weaving only raised suspicions of regulatory capture and running an anticompetitive protection racket to shield Qantas profits amid the aviation sector’s long recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, the hapless Ms King immediately went into hiding and refused media requests to explain why, after grounding the Qatari bid, Turkish Airlines’ bid for extra flights was given clearance for take-off and landing. In a country such as Australia, isolated at the foot of Asia by the tyranny of distance, governments should be publicly accountable for decisions that affect airline competition, influence the cost of travel, and have important consequences for the tourism and hospitality sectors.

Regulatory roulette, with the seeming stench of corporate cronyism, has become a running political problem for the government.

Instead, the lack of any clearly stated and coherent rationale for approving one airline’s application and knocking back another opens the way for renewed speculation about political deals and backroom lobbying ruling the Australian skies, including the role Qantas may have played.

In theory, the aviation white paper due to be released in mid-2024 is an opportunity to draw a line under this episode of regulatory roulette which, together with the seeming stench of corporate cronyism, has become a running political problem for the government.

Yet, the question of aviation competition covered just three of the 224 pages of Labor’s preliminary green paper, and it was only the furore over Qatar and Qantas that forced aviation regulation to be belatedly included in Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ two-year competition policy review.

Governments the world over use aviation regulation as a form of industry protection for their state-owned national carriers. Australia’s hybrid version of this remains that governments do what’s good for the now privatised Qantas. In its white paper submission, Qantas’ main local competitor, Virgin Australia, calls for more openness and clarity around how air rights are awarded.

It would be in the national interest for the aviation white paper to lay out a proper pro-competition, pro-passenger framework for aviation so that regulatory decisions are guided by transparent principles, allowing airlines and potential entrants to operate according to clearly defined rules, and so the public can have confidence that the whole process is aimed at reducing costs and improving services.

Such a framework would leave no room for speculation about the integrity of aviation policymaking, which the total lack of transparency around the government’s decision to wave off one airline and wave in another continues to invite.