Higher Airfares, Worse Customer Service After Decades of Qantas-Virgin ‘Duopoly’

A line of Qantas aircraft sits at Kingsford Smith Airport in Sydney, Australia, on Oct. 31, 2021. James D. Morgan/Getty Images

Australia’s competition watchdog declared that the domestic airline industry sits at a “critical juncture,” with the lack of competition costing Aussies with more expensive airfares and declining customer service quality.

In the last two decades, over 90 percent of domestic passengers flew with either Qantas or Virgin Australia.