Australia declines to follow EU in forcing airlines to pay passengers for delayed and cancelled flights

Albanese government bows to pressure from Qantas and other airlines and omits compensation scheme from aviation customer rights charter

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The Albanese government has bowed to pressure from Qantas and other airlines advocating against laws that would force them to pay cash compensation to passengers whose flights are delayed or cancelled.

The omission of a compensation scheme in the government's draft aviation customer rights charter follows claims from airlines such as Qantas that compensation rules - which exist in the European Union - would force them to preempt costs and increase air fares. The charter was released on Sunday.