Australia’s Qantas to pay $79m over ‘ghost flights’ furore

Competition watchdog says national carrier’s advertising of cancelled flights was ‘egregious and unacceptable’.

​​Australia’s flagship airline Qantas has agreed to pay $120 million Australian dollars ($79m) to settle a lawsuit over the sale of tickets for already cancelled flights.

The airline will pay a fine of 100 million Australian dollars ($66m) and provide compensation of 20 million Australian dollars ($13m) to more than 86,000 customers after advertising seats for thousands of “ghost flights” in 2021 and 2022.

“Qantas’ conduct was egregious and unacceptable. Many consumers will have made holiday, business and travel plans after booking on a phantom flight that had been cancelled,” said Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Chairperson Gina Cass-Gottlieb in a statement on Monday.

“Importantly, it demonstrates that we take action to ensure that companies operating in Australia communicate clearly, accurately and honestly with their customers at all times,” Cass-Gottlieb added.

Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson said the settlement, which is subject to court approval, was an “important step forward as we work towards restoring confidence in the national carrier.”