❓ Qantas' withdrawal from the Perth-Singapore route raises concerns about tourism impact. The government highlights existing marketing deals and alternative carriers to mitigate potential losses.
AnsweredQoN 77Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
QANTAS —
PERTH–SINGAPORE ROUTE
77. MR N.W. MORTON to the
Minister for Tourism:
Many Western Australians will be disappointed by Qantas'
announcement today that it will withdraw the Perth–Singapore route. Can
the minister inform the house what impact this decision will have on tourism in
Western Australia?
PERTH–SINGAPORE ROUTE
77. MR N.W. MORTON to the
Minister for Tourism:
Many Western Australians will be disappointed by Qantas'
announcement today that it will withdraw the Perth–Singapore route. Can
the minister inform the house what impact this decision will have on tourism in
Western Australia?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Forrestfield for the question. It was,
indeed, a very disappointing announcement today from Qantas with not only the
loss of 5 000 jobs, and there will be many employees of Qantas in Western
Australia —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Members!
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : I
find it astonishing that we can talk about job losses like this and have
members opposite interject. I will endeavour to update the house on what the
state government is doing about this issue. As I was saying, it was very
disappointing to hear that there will be job losses across the Qantas network.
Indeed, some of those losses may well occur here in Western Australia, which
puts those families in a very invidious position. Some Western Australians may
also have had their travel plans disrupted as a result of today's
abrupt announcement. Overall, Singapore is a very important market for Western
Australia. The visitation to Perth from Singapore is in the order of 72 000
visitors a year and we have seen growth in that market over the past few years.
Qantas has a 13 per cent share of that visitation and the expectation, I am
advised, is that the other carriers that fly between Singapore and Perth will
pick up that market share.
Qantas also advised in its announcement that the Singapore
route had been underperforming for quite some time, so on 21 March 2013 Qantas
cut back its service from Singapore to Perth from two flights a day to one
flight a day.
Mr B.S. Wyatt interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Victoria Park, I formally call you to order for the second time
today.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : Qantas
will no longer run that service. It is important for us to note that the joint
marketing arrangement we entered into with Qantas is a $7.65 million deal,
which I announced last September, and will go over three years. The way we
structure deals with our airline partners for the purpose of joint marketing is
to get access to their frequent flyer databases and loyalty programs. In the
announcement today, Qantas reinforced its commitment to its loyalty program and
to its loyal customers. The essence of the joint marketing arrangement was to
market our ''Experience Extraordinary'' destinations to a
database of people already considering travelling.
I am pleased to say that today there was no announcement
about any changes whatsoever to the 130 domestic flights coming to Perth from
Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. Those eastern states markets are definitely
among our target markets and a market share we are intending to increase by way
of some of the joint marketing arrangements we have with Qantas. Altogether, we
have 56 weekly flights from Singapore to Perth. The airlines carrying those
important tourists to Western Australia are Singapore Airlines, Jetstar,
Tigerair and Scoot, and we have arrangements with Jetstar, Singapore Airlines
and Scoot along similar lines—that is, to be putting our ''Experience
Extraordinary'' destinations and Perth in front of people already making
those decisions to travel.
The other aspect of this matter I think it is important to
note is that Qantas advised that it will still put on supplementary services
around peak travel times. Between 3 July and 27 July, which are school holidays
here in Western Australia, it will put some supplementary services on to move
travellers between the two countries. I think that is very important for Western
Australia. Qantas customers in Western Australia will still have access to
Qantas routes through the codeshare arrangement it has with Emirates, so,
importantly, we will still be getting access to our key destinations of the
United Kingdom, the United States and Germany. Of course, Singapore Airlines
customers will still have access to the ''Experience Extraordinary''
brand through that frequent flyer joint marketing agreement. I put on the
record that the state government remains committed to growing our market share
in Singapore. We remain committed to continuing to put our ''Experience
Extraordinary'' destinations marketing out there to not only Singapore,
but also those target markets we intend to improve our market share in. This is
all part of our broader strategy to grow the tourism industry in Western
Australia to $12 billion by 2020.
indeed, a very disappointing announcement today from Qantas with not only the
loss of 5 000 jobs, and there will be many employees of Qantas in Western
Australia —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Members!
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : I
find it astonishing that we can talk about job losses like this and have
members opposite interject. I will endeavour to update the house on what the
state government is doing about this issue. As I was saying, it was very
disappointing to hear that there will be job losses across the Qantas network.
Indeed, some of those losses may well occur here in Western Australia, which
puts those families in a very invidious position. Some Western Australians may
also have had their travel plans disrupted as a result of today's
abrupt announcement. Overall, Singapore is a very important market for Western
Australia. The visitation to Perth from Singapore is in the order of 72 000
visitors a year and we have seen growth in that market over the past few years.
Qantas has a 13 per cent share of that visitation and the expectation, I am
advised, is that the other carriers that fly between Singapore and Perth will
pick up that market share.
Qantas also advised in its announcement that the Singapore
route had been underperforming for quite some time, so on 21 March 2013 Qantas
cut back its service from Singapore to Perth from two flights a day to one
flight a day.
Mr B.S. Wyatt interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Victoria Park, I formally call you to order for the second time
today.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : Qantas
will no longer run that service. It is important for us to note that the joint
marketing arrangement we entered into with Qantas is a $7.65 million deal,
which I announced last September, and will go over three years. The way we
structure deals with our airline partners for the purpose of joint marketing is
to get access to their frequent flyer databases and loyalty programs. In the
announcement today, Qantas reinforced its commitment to its loyalty program and
to its loyal customers. The essence of the joint marketing arrangement was to
market our ''Experience Extraordinary'' destinations to a
database of people already considering travelling.
I am pleased to say that today there was no announcement
about any changes whatsoever to the 130 domestic flights coming to Perth from
Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. Those eastern states markets are definitely
among our target markets and a market share we are intending to increase by way
of some of the joint marketing arrangements we have with Qantas. Altogether, we
have 56 weekly flights from Singapore to Perth. The airlines carrying those
important tourists to Western Australia are Singapore Airlines, Jetstar,
Tigerair and Scoot, and we have arrangements with Jetstar, Singapore Airlines
and Scoot along similar lines—that is, to be putting our ''Experience
Extraordinary'' destinations and Perth in front of people already making
those decisions to travel.
The other aspect of this matter I think it is important to
note is that Qantas advised that it will still put on supplementary services
around peak travel times. Between 3 July and 27 July, which are school holidays
here in Western Australia, it will put some supplementary services on to move
travellers between the two countries. I think that is very important for Western
Australia. Qantas customers in Western Australia will still have access to
Qantas routes through the codeshare arrangement it has with Emirates, so,
importantly, we will still be getting access to our key destinations of the
United Kingdom, the United States and Germany. Of course, Singapore Airlines
customers will still have access to the ''Experience Extraordinary''
brand through that frequent flyer joint marketing agreement. I put on the
record that the state government remains committed to growing our market share
in Singapore. We remain committed to continuing to put our ''Experience
Extraordinary'' destinations marketing out there to not only Singapore,
but also those target markets we intend to improve our market share in. This is
all part of our broader strategy to grow the tourism industry in Western
Australia to $12 billion by 2020.
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