Transport Minister Catherine King has pledged airfares will soon come down, saying Qatar Airways is “not the only airline that adds to competition”. 

Rivals like Singapore Airlines, which also takes Australians to Europe, were in the process of increasing their number of seats, she said.

On the Middle Eastern route in particular, which is dominated by Qantas and Emirates, Ms King said competitor Etihad Airways had extra capacity they were “not using currently”. An application from Turkish Airlines was also pending on her desk, she said.

“We’re up to 91 per cent of pre-COVID capacity, we’ve got more capacity coming in … it is coming back, and we will start to see prices come down,” Ms King told 7.30.

The minister has been under pressure over her decision to block a Qatar Airways application to double its flights into Australia.

The opposition pursued the issue in federal parliament this week, with Peter Dutton alleging a “sweetheart deal” was made to protect the commercial interests of Qantas.

A Senate inquiry will examine the context behind the decision after enough crossbenchers sided with the Coalition to defeat government MPs in a vote.

Ms King said it was not standard practice for ministers to explain the intricacies of why decisions were in the “national interest”, comparing it with decisions made by the board that approves foreign investments in Australia.

But she suggested the impact of the decision on “jobs in the longer term” was part of her reasoning.

Watch this space on Sydney Airport slots

The minister said the government would soon have more to say about the allocation of runway slots at Australia’s largest airport, Sydney International.

Slots are divvied up among the airlines and are tightly controlled, with limits imposed by noise curfews.

The government this week released a “green paper” on the aviation sector, which will eventually lead to a “white paper” – a strategic plan for the industry out to 2050.

But Ms King hinted that specific reforms to how runway share is managed at Sydney could be coming sooner.

“My department’s undertaken some really targeted consultation around Sydney Airport and we’ll have a bit more to say about that prior to the white paper coming out,” she said.

“We’re just making our way through what we think is practical. In particular, I’m really conscious that when there’s a significant weather event at Sydney, it takes the whole system down.”

Qantas should do a ‘much better job’ with its workforce

Ms King said the previous Coalition government had stood by as Qantas outsourced large sections of its workforce, saying the splintering and contracting-out had been a “catalyst” for the Albanese government’s latest round of industrial relations laws, introduced to parliament this week.

The laws are in part designed to make it unlawful to undercut an existing workplace agreement between a company and its staff by bringing in labour hire workers at a reduced pay rate.

Ms King said she had been “shocked” by Qantas’ decision to outsource its baggage handlers.

Asked if she would like to see Qantas bring its entire workforce back in-house over time, Ms King said: “I would certainly like to see more jobs in aviation”.

Watch 7.30, Mondays to Thursdays 7.30pm on ABC iview and ABC TV