SYDNEY, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) — An Australian court on Tuesday approved a fine for Qantas, the national flag carrier, for selling thousands of tickets for canceled flights.
The Federal Court of Australia approved a 120 million Australian dollar (80.7 million U.S. dollar) settlement between the national flag carrier and consumer watchdog the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) over the “ghost flights” saga.
The ACCC launched legal action against Qantas in November 2023 accusing the airline of selling thousands of tickets on flights that had already been canceled.
The two sides agreed to a settlement in May and Federal Court judge Helen Rofe on Tuesday accepted that a fine of 100 million AUD (67.3 million USD) plus 20 million AUD (13.4 million USD) in compensation for customers was an effective deterrent to Qantas for future noncompliance with consumer law.
According to facts of the case agreed to by the ACCC and Qantas, 86,597 customers paid a combined 17.9 million AUD (12.05 million USD) for seats on flights that had already been canceled in the period between May 2021 and August 2023.
Qantas continued to sell seats for up to 62 days after deciding to cancel flights and took up to 67 days to notify customers of the cancellation of their flights.
Barrister Ruth Higgins on Tuesday apologized on behalf of the airline in court.
“Qantas is sorry that it engaged in the conduct it has admitted in this proceeding,” she said.
Representing the ACCC, Christopher Caleo said that ensuring compliance with consumer law by Qantas was a priority due to its status as the flag carrier and Australia’s largest airline.
“It is important therefore that the penalty imposed is a necessary sting and is not capable of being perceived by Qantas as an acceptable cost of failing to have adequate systems and processes in place,” he told the court. “The joint submission of the parties is that Qantas’s size and financial position means a significant penalty is required to achieve such deterrence.”
Under the terms of the settlement, Qantas will pay affected customers up to 450 AUD (302.9 USD) each on top of any previous refunds offered.
