On Monday (20-Sep-2021), Australian Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce came up with an announcement of a AUD183.6 million federal support Aid to the aviation industry, out of which a sum of AUD120 million has been earmarked for Qantas and Virgin.
Like many other countries, the Australian government's "International Aviation Support programme" ,that is expiring on 31-Oct-2021, is an effort to assist Australia’s international passenger airlines to maintain core aviation jobs in the country.
Additionally, an amount of AUD64 million has been allocated for the International Airport Security Charges Rebate programme , that will assist airports meet the costs associated with the security requirements, scope of which is passenger and baggage screening on international passenger flights.
In the wake of stricter Aurstralian Border closure rules, Forecast is, even if the overseas flights resume around Christmas, this amount will be necessary for the Aviation sector to remain afloat until March 2022.
And the Aid money will cover an extension of the government’s AUD750 weekly payments to Pilots and cabin crews of international carriers, primarily Qantas, that cannot fly internationally. Previous aid was set to end in October but will now run until March.
“As a driver of so many sectors of our economy, it is essential that the industry is ready to ramp up operations when international restrictions are eased,” said Mr Joyce, who is also Aviation Minister.
“It’s also important that the sector continues operating now, to maintain the flow of exports and imports and bring Australians home from overseas.”
However, critics keep a close watch on the total amount spent by the Australian Federal goverment , as they see it as "more than $5 billion in taxpayer-funded support to airports, Qantas, Virgin and regional airlines during the COVID-19 pandemic".
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