At a time when Virgin Australia and Qantas are ramping up their business class services, the Australian federal government is cutting back on premium travel by public servants.
Government travel costs have been singled out for action in budget cuts announced by finance minister, Penny Wong.
New restrictions on business-class travel on short-haul domestic flights and a greater use of semi-flexible fares, instead of fully flexible, are expected to save AUD30 million per year.
“Whilst we know it is important that public servants travel to engage with Australians across the nation, we do need to take an approach to travel that more closely reflects the fiscal imperatives and embraces the (teleconferencing) technology now available,” said the minister.
