Qantas gets green light for Emirates alliance
Australian regulators have approved Qantas’ proposed alliance with Emirates – a move that would see the airline’s Kangaroo Route flights to Europe re-routed through Dubai.
Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) draft determination, released today (20 December 2012), proposes to grant authorisation for the airlines’ partnership for five years. The alliance, which was announced earlier this year, would also see Qantas and Emirates coordinate their pricing, sales and capacity, as well as aligning frequent flyer programmes. A final ruling on the partnership is due in March 2013.
Qantas Group CEO, Alan Joyce, welcomed the ACCC’s draft resolution.
“We put a strong case to the ACCC that outlined the benefits of this partnership, both for travellers and for Australian tourism,” said Joyce. “Our customer research has shown very strong support for the Qantas and Emirates partnership, particularly in terms of increasing one-stop access to Europe, cutting travel time and offering frequent flyer benefits,” he added.
Emirates’ President, Tim Clark, said that his airline had also received a positive response from its customers and the local tourism sector.
“The feedback since the Emirates and Qantas partnership was announced has been positive and reinforces what a strong match the two brands are for each other,” said Clark. “The partnership with Qantas means we can add regional destinations like the Gold Coast and Hobart to the growing list of places we offer Emirates customers worldwide.”
Since announcing the proposed partnership in September, Qantas and Emirates have already started initial preparations that do not require regulatory approval, including connecting their IT systems, designing frequent flyer benefits and establishing an operational base for Qantas in Dubai.
Subject to final ACCC approval, the partnership is scheduled to start in April 2013.