Oz carrier Qantas Airways faces $79 mn penalty for flight cancellations

Australia’s Qantas Airways agreed to pay A$120 million ($79 million) to settle a regulator lawsuit over the sale of thousands of tickets on already cancelled flights, in an attempt to end a reputational crisis that has engulfed the airline.

The company will split A$20 million between more than 86,000 customers who booked tickets on the so-called “ghost flights” and pay a A$100 million fine instead of defending the lawsuit that it had previously vowed to fight, Qantas and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said on Monday.