- Qantas was accused in 2023 of advertising tickets to flights that were already canceled.
- Regulators announced Sunday that the airline agreed to pay $13.2 million to impacted customers.
- Qantas will pay $149 to domestic ticket holders and $298 to international ticketholders.
Regulators said on Sunday that Qantas Airways has agreed to pay about 20 million Australian dollars to more than 86,000 customers to settle allegations that the airline misled them by selling them tickets for canceled flights.
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) said in a Sunday press release that the Australian airline company will pay 225 Australian dollars to domestic ticketholders and 450 Australian dollars — about $149 and $298 in US currency — to international ticketholders.
A spokesperson for Qantas did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In August 2023, the ACCC accused Qantas of misleading customers by advertising tickets for over 8,000 flights that had already been canceled.
The regulators alleged that the airline kept the tickets up for sale online for an average of two weeks after the flights were canceled.
"We allege that Qantas' conduct in continuing to sell tickets to canceled flights, and not updating ticketholders about canceled flights, left customers with less time to make alternative arrangements and may have led to them paying higher prices to fly at a particular time not knowing that flight had already been canceled," the ACCC said in 2023.
Qantas responded that it did not "delay communicating with our passengers for commercial gain" or cancel flights to "protect slots."
The airline is now agreeing to pay up to $13.2 million to settle the case brought by the ACCC. According to the ACCC, the payments to impacted customers will be in addition to any refunds or alternative flights that the airline may have already paid.
In addition to paying customers, the airline agreed to pay a civil penalty of 100 million Australian dollars or $66.1 million.