Qantas停飞，塔洲受影响

DISRUPTIONS on Tasmanian Qantas routes have already begun.

One Melbourne to Hobart flight was cancelled last night, two services will be cancelled today and three services tomorrow.

However, Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania chief Luke Martin said people who had bookings for this week with Jetstar or QantasLink should not be affected by the Qantas announcement.

"It is important to stress that Jetstar and QantasLink represent the vast majority of Qantas Group services to Tasmania," he said.

Mr Martin said from the minimal details available it appeared the announcement immediately affected only Qantas's three daily services into Hobart two Melbourne-Hobart services and one Sydney-Hobart.

"However, the longer this grounding goes on the greater the impact will be on Australians travelling, which will inevitably impact on our industry," he said.

"Tasmania's tourism industry, and the broader economy, simply cannot afford such upheaval in air travel."

Qantas's announcement came at the dawn of Tasmania's busy spring season.

He said if Qantas and the unions could not sort these disputes quickly then the Federal Government must intervene and restore certainty in Australian aviation.

Qantas is urging customers to keep a check on its website.

Meanwhile, Jetstar said in a statement issued last night its flights would not be impacted by the grounding of the Qantas fleet. It encouraged passengers to visit website Jetstar.com to check the status of their flights.

Jetstar said opportunities to increase capacity to accommodate more passengers were being investigated.

Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown called on Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott to demand Qantas management get the fleet back in the air.

"This lock-out is also a sellout of the spirit of Australia," Senator Brown said. "It is a multi-millionaire's lock-out of responsible decent pilots, crew and other staff whose work gives Australia the world's best airline.

"This lock-out is about exporting Qantas to a world of lower cost, lower services values and lower safety. The Government should stand up to Qantas's selfish top brass."

http://www.themercury.com.au/art ... _tasmania-news.html