West Australian Premier Roger Cook has labelled Qantas as “opportunistic” while blasting its subsidiary Jetstar’s decision to scrap the Sydney to Busselton route due to sky-high fuel prices.
Jetstar announced on Tuesday it would suspend the route, which just opened in 2024, until September, citing higher fuel costs.
The decision came as Qantas updated the market on the skyrocketing price of jet fuel stemming from the Iran war – up between $600 million and $800 million for the first half of the year – which will result in a 5 per cent cut to domestic flight capacity across the board.
The Sydney to Busselton route, which operates three times weekly, is the only route to be totally suspended across Qantas and Jetstar’s entire schedule.
It has been regarded by WA tourism operators as successful in funnelling east coast visitors directly to the South West, and is also used by fly-in, fly-out workers from over east to enter and leave WA.
Cook said he was disappointed and surprised by the decision, given the airline “jacked up” prices all the time.
“My understanding is that Qantas had said they’ve made this decision on the basis of fuel supply,” he said.
“This is the same airline that is very happy to jack up prices whenever it suits them, regardless of the supply of fuel, so I’m not quite sure why they would make that decision, which I consider quite bizarre.
“Quite frankly, there’s plenty of fuel coming into the country.
“The problem is affordability. So it sounds like it’s a bit of an opportunistic decision by Qantas to cut those flights.
“It’s time that we should all be working together, supporting our tourism industry, not walking away from them.”
A Qantas Group spokeswoman said there had not been enough demand to support the service, but was adamant it would resume in September.
“Unfortunately, with fuel costs at these levels, there is not enough demand to support our Busselton-Sydney service, and we’ve had to make the difficult decision to temporarily suspend the service,” she said.
“We know this is frustrating for customers and we look forward to restarting the service later this year.
“Impacted customers will be contacted directly and rebooked on available services via alternative domestic cities or given the option of a refund if they no longer wish to travel.
“The group continues to closely monitor the impact from the conflict in the Middle East and may further adjust capacity and fares over time.”
Libby Mettam, the WA deputy Liberal leader and member for Vasse whose electorate covers the Busselton region, pleaded with the Cook government to step in and support the flights.
“This is a massive blow to the region. Our tourism operators and small businesses are already doing it tough with a cost of living crisis and a fuel crisis going into winter,” she said.
“The three lucrative Sydney flights per week generate significant value for the region, and this is a significant blow to tourism operators.
“The Cook Labor government must do everything they can to ensure that these flights resume as soon as possible and provide valued support to the region.”
Qantas’ charter operations for WA’s mining industry were excluded from the domestic flight capacity cuts.
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Hamish Hastie is WAtoday’s state political reporter and the winner of five WA Media Awards, including the 2023 Beck Prize for best political journalism.Connect via X or email.
