Sydney fares under fire

Pollies attack airlines for bumping up prices to grand final destination

NORTH Queensland politicians have slammed airlines amid allegations of pricegouging during grand final week.

Airlines have attributed increased prices to supply and demand.

Return flights between Townsville and Sydney leapt to more than $ 1100 in the wake of the Cowboys’ preliminary final win, compared with a typical price of about $ 300.

Yesterday afternoon, some flight prices dropped after Qantas pledged to put on more than 1500 extra seats, with the cheapest direct flight seats from Townsville to Sydney costing $ 363.

Meanwhile, four return charter flights with 540 seats organised by the North Queensland Cowboys are now sold out.

Herbert MP Cathy O’Toole said she had seen the price surge when buying her own tickets to the game.

“I was thrown off the sys- tem and it was three to five minutes before I got back on,” she said.

“There were the same number of seats, it was the same time flight and it had gone up by $ 200.”

Ms O’Toole said the high prices would keep many Cowboys fans at home.

“I don’t know many people who would be able to afford that with a couple of kids in school and bills to pay,” she said.

“Everyone needs to make a profit but when you look at Townsville and how they have backed the Cowboys, this is pretty sad. The people who sit on the hill, there’s no way they can afford it.

“Where’s the corporate social responsibility?”

Kennedy MP Bob Katter said airfares from Townsville to Sydney surged every time the North Queensland Cowboys made it to the grand final and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission needed to look into it.

“If supply and demand were determining this price, we would have an outcome on numerous occasions where they put the price up,” he said.

“This is a case where you can sit and down and figure out that you can get away with charging this amount of money.”

Townsville MP Scott Stewart said “the big end of town” had made choices about airfares that disadvantaged the region.

“Once again North Queenslanders are being done over because of where we live,” he said.

“I think it really comes back to individual companies and do they value people over profits or profits over people?

“It seems particularly rich coming from Qantas given they’re not prepared to pay a $ 3 passenger increase at our airport.”

An ACCC spokesman would not comment when asked if it had received complaints about grand final weekend airfares or if it would investigate the matter.

“Under the Australian Consumer Law, businesses, including airlines, are free to set their prices as they see fit, but they must set their prices independently of their competitors,” he said. “The ACCC generally does not comment on potential investigations or complaints received.”