Australia’s biggest airline Qantas has agreed to pay a A$100m ($66.1m, £52.7m) penalty to settle a legal case accusing it of selling thousands of tickets for flights it had already cancelled.
Under the deal with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the firm will also launch a plan worth up to A$20m to compensate affected passengers.
Qantas’ Chief Executive, Vanessa Hudson, said the move represented an important step toward “restoring confidence in the national carrier.”
The so-called “ghost flight” case, which was launched by the ACCC in August, claimed that in some instances Qantas had sold tickets for flights that had been cancelled for weeks.
“When flying resumed after the Covid shutdown, we recognise Qantas let down customers” said Ms Hudson, who said she had made it a priority to restore the airline’s reputation when she was appointed to the job last year.
“We are pleased to have secured these admissions by Qantas that it misled its customers, and its agreement that a very significant penalty is required”, ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said.
The penalty agreement between Qantas and the ACCC will now have to be approved by the Federal Court of Australia.
