The State government will attempt to save $160 million for the next four years to supply travel services for politicians and government officials.

According to Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner, four domestic airlines and five travel management providers were commissioned to arrange travel flights for the parliamentarians and staff, the government officials, and public service.

Minister Tanner said the federal government wants to lessen the expenses for air flights as it spends more than $500 million a year for travel services alone.

''The decentralised arrangements put in place by the previous government were not providing value for taxpayers' money,” he said.

The commissioned domestic carriers are Jetstar Airways, Regional Express (REX), Qantas Airways and Virgin Blue.

Air New Zealand, Cathay Pacific, Emirates Airlines, Etihad, Jetstar Airways, Pacific Blue, Qantas International, and Virgin Blue International were in charge for international flights.

Flyer and loyalty reward points for business-related travels were turned off for all contracted airlines.

A spokesperson of Qantas airlines said the new arrangement with the government is agreeable as it balanced the objectives of optimizing cost savings and the competitive rates in the aviation industry without changing the structure of the marketplace.

''The new framework strikes the right balance between fares and convenience as the criteria for whole-of-government travel decisions, and we are confident that we will be able to compete strongly,'' a Qantas spokesman said.

The Qantas spokesperson added that the removal of the 25 per cent of government travel between Canberra and Sydney by the government will create a “level of playing field on this route.”
The 25 per cent of government travel is now assigned to non-Qantas airlines.