Qantas offers Australians unlimited flights for a year in vaccine push

Airline CEO Alan Joyce urges other companies to create incentives for vaccinated people

Qantas aircraft are seen on the tarmac at Melbourne International Airport in Melbourne, Australia (REUTERS)

Vaccinated Australians stand a chance to win unlimited flights for a year from Qantas as part of the company’s incentive programme to speed up the country’s coronavirus vaccination rollout.

CEO Alan Joyce announced on Monday that 10 “mega prizes” would give families of four free travel with Qantas and its budget airline Jetstar for 12 months.

The airline also announced other rewards for vaccinated passengers, including air miles, flight vouchers and loyalty programme status credits.

Joyce told broadcaster Channel 9 that hospitality group Accor would also offer a million points to the winning families to cover their accommodation.

It comes amid criticism that the pace at which Australians are being vaccinated with Covid-19 jabs is slow, clocking in at 4 million doses over the weekend before Victoria entered its fourth lockdown.

Australia ranks 119th in the world for the percentage of its population that has been fully vaccinated, according to figures from Our World in Data.

The sluggish rollout can be attributed to vaccine supply issues and alarming levels of vaccine hesitancy, with a survey showing that 15 per cent of adults said they were “not at all likely” and 14 per cent “not very likely” to be vaccinated against Covid-19.

Joyce told Channel 9 on Monday the company had a “vested interest” in seeing more people get vaccinated and called on other Australian businesses to offer their own incentives to customers who have received jabs.

He said: “We are trying our best to help with this rollout. I’m encouraging a Team Australia moment where every corporate out there helps with this vaccine rollout and to reward people that have had the vaccine.”

It comes after Australia’s chief medical officer Paul Keller told a press conference last week: “I think we really do need to look for incentives, as many incentives as we can for people to become vaccinated.”

Several countries have also put incentive programmes in place to encourage people to take their coronavirus jabs. In Ohio, adults who have received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine can enter a lottery draw to win US$1 million, while some shops in Beijing are offering vaccinated customers free vegetables, ice creams, chicken wings and dumplings.