The Australian government has announced that 13 airlines have won the right to handle international air travel and four carriers for domestic air travel for the Australian public sector; and in order to save the Government money, the carriers have all agreed to suspend frequent flyer benefits for the government’s business travelers.

Lindsay Tanner, the Australian Minister for Finance and Deregulation, said “This has been an issue of particular importance to me as the Government has previously been unable to extract full value from such programs, with loyalty reward points acting as an incentive to travel.”

The domestic airlines include Jetstar Airways, Regional Express (REX), Qantas Airways and Virgin Blue and the international carriers are Air New Zealand, Cathay Pacific Airways, Emirates Airlines, Etihad Airways, Jetstar Airways, Pacific Blue, Qantas Airways, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic Airways and V Australia.