The Qantas PR team has announced it is ditching its Twitter account and will instead be directing customers over to their new website newsroom for information and updates.

The twitter handle @QantasMedia tweeted that it will be shut down on Friday 19 April. The account is run by Qantas PR staff and has 27,000 followers. The reason behind the closure is being put down to the fact the airline already has a Twitter account, and a desire to condense the information it shares via social media.

The account was originally set up as a news feed for staff to share breaking news and information with the media. Qantas will continue their tweeting from their official account, @QantasAirways, which almost has 114,000 followers.

Qantas has always had a bit of a strained relationship with social media. In 2011, furious customers took to social media to slam Qantas’ decision to ground its fleet after work place relations discussions turned nasty. The airline was also left red faced after the #qantasluxury debacle where customers were encouraged to tweet in their ideas of ‘Qantas luxury’ to win a pair of first-class Qantas pyjamas. Customers instead used the hashtag to air their grievances about the airline.