A SIGNIFICANT investment will be made by Qantas to expedite the establishment of the aviation fuel (SAF) industry in Australia, via a new landmark agreement signed with Airbus.

The two aviation companies will jointly invest A$288 million (A$72 million from Qantas) over five years, a move that Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said would help lower the local aviation sector’s reliance on imported fossil fuels, which has seen its price spiral upwards in recent months.

“Without swift action, Australia is at risk of being left behind,” Joyce argued.

“This investment will help kickstart a local biofuels industry in Australia and hopefully encourage additional investment from governments and other business and build more momentum for the industry as a whole,” he added.

The agreement will see Qantas invest in locally developed and produced SAF and feedstock initiatives, with designs on lowering its need to source SAF from overseas markets and drive down costs over the longer term.

Projects will have to be commercially viable and meet a strict set of criteria around environmental sustainability.

Qantas has committed to using 10% SAF in its overall fuel mix by 2030 and achieving net zero emissions by 2050, with the latest deal viewed as an important pillar in reaching these objectives.

Joyce added that the deal would also need government support to help SAF production get off the ground and prevent the cost of travel rising in the future.

“We’ve had some encouraging discussions with the incoming Australian Government given their strong focus on emissions reduction and look forward to that progressing,” he said.

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PLANS are underway by the Samoa Tourism Authority (STA) to mobilise a dedicated sales team to support and grow targeted sales incentive programs in the Australian market.

While the full details of the trade ramp-up are yet to be revealed, STA CEO Tupa’i Robert Ah Sam told Travel Daily that Aussie travel agents will “play a very important role” in the country’s full recovery from the travel shutdown, as it confirms its ambition to reopen borders to tourists from 01 Aug.

The Pacific Island nation has been furiously preparing for its travel restart, undertaking a series of developments to ensure the destination is safe and ready for arrivals, including the creation of its own contact tracing app, bolstered testing facilities, and improving the training and recruitment of tourism workers.

Ah Sam also hailed recent moves by Qantas to apply for direct services between Sydney and Brisbane to Apia, confirming intentions to court more carriers if the opportunities arise.

“Currently the national tourism office’s goals on air connectivity is to rebuild to pre-COVID levels as quickly as possible while we are continuing to maintain close engagement with current and potential air partners,” he said.

Samoa will also continue to pursue an eco-friendly image in its attempt to attract Australian travellers, as well as focusing on “authentic culture and food” in its marketing collateral.

Samoa noted it was expecting the VFR market to be a strong driver of inbound travel this year as Aussies take the opportunity to reunite with loved ones after more than two years of closure.

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PASSENGER traffic through Melbourne Airport continued to recover last month, with a total of 367,681 international passengers.

That brought international operations to about 43% of pre-pandemic levels in May 2019 and was a 13% increase on international traffic in Apr.

However, overall traffic numbers actually declined 7% month-on-month after bumper visitation in Apr due to the Grand Prix and the school and Easter holiday period.

MEL’s total May passenger numbers were 73% of the figure in May 2019, with CEO Lyell Strambi saying the international growth was really positive.

“This demand is giving confidence to airlines to increase capacity,” he noted, with EK increasing to double daily A380 services alongside expansion of Jetstar flights to Bali and the QF resumption of Melbourne flights to Christchurch and Wellington.

Later this year Melbourne will also host the 151st IATA Slot Conference, with Strambi saying “this will be an opportunity for us to put Melbourne on the global aviation stage and restore international connectivity to our great state.”

For the 11 months to 31 May, total international traffic through MEL is already more than six times the figure for 2020/21, while more than 9 million domestic passengers have passed through the airport, a 62% improvement on the previous financial year.

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JANENE Pendleton is the MD of Helloworld Travel Drummoyne and is among a number of readers who have responded to Ian Mollison’s opinion piece on Qantas Head of Distribution Igor Kwiatkowski’s reminder about the upcoming commission cuts published last week (TD 16 Jun).

Got an opinion to share? Let us know in up to 400 words via email to feedback@traveldaily.com.au.

Dear Igor, thank you for taking the time to remind us of the changes to Qantas commissions and for giving us the opportunity to update you on our business.

We would like to thank our beloved national carrier and industry partner (bahahaha) being the first to lead the way in cutting commissions, this has certainly made it easier for others to follow in expecting free distribution and management of their product — well done you.

The $2 million a year we ticketed with Qantas was never an easy sell, because let’s face it, you don’t fly anywhere and there are many airlines that are better.

Switch selling will be a breeze and we look forward to actively discouraging Qantas as a choice and know clients will thank us for it.

We hope Qantas has used the past 12 months to invest the 4% commission cut in call centres and additional staff OR perhaps some overseas call centres might work for you, or even robots and chat facilities – we all know how Qantas clients love them!

Considering the cut to commission we have implemented a fee for any Qantas Representative/BDM if they would like to visit our stores as they regularly did pre-pandemic – $110 per 30 mins or part thereof, because more than ever our time is money and no doubt you would understand this decision.

Best wishes to you. #byebyeQantas

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Source: traveldaily