Australian air travellers have suffered from a huge number of domestic flight cancellations in recent years, and the consumer watchdog is taking Qantas to court, alleging the company sold tickets for flights that were never going to take off.
Despite that, Australian passengers have few rights to compensation for delays and cancellations compared with travellers in some countries.
On Monday, the independent MP Monique Ryan told parliament during question time that weak consumer laws had allowed “endless delays and cancellations without penalty to the airline” and that Australia’s air passenger rights needed to catch up with those in Canada, the US and EU.