Court ends Qantas strikes

Dubai: An Australian court early on Monday ended the strikes and employee lockout that had abruptly grounded Qantas Airways and stranded tens of thousands of passengers worldwide. The airline planned to announce soon on when flights will resume.

The arbitration court heard more than 14 hours of testimony from the airline, the Australian government and unions after the government called the emergency hearing Saturday. Workers have held rolling strikes and refused overtime work for weeks out of worry that some of Qantas' 35,000 jobs would be moved overseas in a restructing plan. The unions wanted a temporary suspension of the employee lockout, but the airline said the strikes had been too devastating and it needed certainty to continue operating.

The grounding over the weekend led to Abu Dhabi-carrier Etihad Airways stepping up service to Australia to cater to thousands of stranded passengers.

Expanding service

Etihad's chief executive officer, James Hogan, yesterday said that the Abu Dhabi national carrier would be expanding service with partner Virgin Australia.

On Saturday, Qantas grounded more than 100 aircraft said it had cancelled 447 flights affecting more than 68,000 passengers by yesterday afternoon.

"We are already looking at a range of options to support Virgin Australia in its home market by freeing up additional capacity if required," Hogan said.

Hogan said Etihad is talking with Virgin Australia to operate a shuttle service on the busy Sydney and Melbourne using Etihad Airways aircraft. And he said the Abu Dhabi carrier is also considering setting up a daily flight between Sydney and Bangkok to try an ease backlogs on the busy international route.

"We also stand ready to assist Qantas passengers who are stranded overseas and need to travel home, and have advised our call centres worldwide to do everything possible to assist people in these circumstances — in fact, to help anyone whose international travel plans have been affected," Hogan said.

At present, Etihad operates 24 weekly flights from Australia to the Britain, Europe, the Middle East and North America through Abu Dhabi. It also offers connections to and from other Australian cities and towns in conjunction with Virgin Australia. Last night, a Virgin Atlantic spokesperson told Gulf News its flights to Australia were operating normally.

—With inputs from agencies

See also Page 38