Australian Federal Government sides with Qantas on cabotage

18 April, 2017

Australia's Federal Government indicated that will not change the country's existing restrictions on cabotage in the domestic airline market (Aviation Week, 18-Apr-2017). As previously reported by CAPA, Qantas advised a parliamentary committee to refrain from allowing international carriers to operate on domestic routes in Australia, citing substantial economic, employment and operational risk. A submission from the Infrastructure and Regional Development Department stated "despite previous proposals to relax cabotage rules in some instances, there would be no benefit in doing so".