Consumer watchdog aiming for record $600m penalty against Qantas

The consumer watchdog is aiming for a record-setting $600 million penalty against Qantas if it is successful in its legal action against the airline.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb flagged the staggering figure earlier today.

Qantas has been accused of breaking consumer law by allegedly advertising tickets for thousands of cancelled flights and failing to tell customers about ticket cancellations.

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Cass-Gottlieb told the ABC the penalty should be higher than the current $125m record penalty for a company breaking Australian consumer law.

After being asked if she believed the penalty should exceed $300m, Cass-Gottlieb said the ACCC was seeking a penalty "more than twice that figure".

In 2019, German auto giant Volkswagen AG was hit with a $125 million penalty in Australia or breaching diesel emissions standards.

The ACCC alleges the airline sold online tickets for more than 8000 flights scheduled to leave between May and July last year, even after it had cancelled them.

The consumer watchdog also claimed Qantas failed to inform ticket holders about the cancellation of more than 10,000 flights during the same period.

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The ACCC brought the Federal Court action after an extensive investigation.

Earlier Cass-Gottlieb told Today this morning the ACCC was seeking "substantial penalties" against Qantas after ticket holders' travel plans were disrupted.

"We are not taking this case about the cancellations.

We are taking about what happened next ... consumers were not informed accurately that the flights have been cancelled, on average, two weeks period and sometimes longer periods."

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said the allegations against Qantas were "unsettling".

He said the aviation industry needed greater competition.

"That is the pathway to cheaper tickets, and that's the pathway to better service."