Airline News
New opposition to Qantas -American Airlines trans-Pacific alliance
July 20th 2015
Hawaiian Airlines is the latest carrier to oppose the Qantas Airways-American Airlines trans-Pacific alliance after it received interim approval from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in early July, despite long-standing objections from Air New Zealand. Read More »
Hawaiian said joint ventures, such as the proposed Qantas-American alliance and the established partnership between Virgin Australia and Delta Air Lines on trans-Pacific routes, "tilted the playing field against smaller carriers" because they made it more difficult [for smaller players] to reach their own "pro-competitive code-share agreements" due to exclusivity clauses in contracts. "As a result, the joint ventures have access to behind-gateway domestic traffic flows at both ends of the network, while smaller competitive carriers are locked out," the Honolulu-based carrier added.
Should final approval be granted, Hawaiian said it wanted the ACCC to make the Qantas alliance conditional on the basis that the Australian airline was made to enter reasonable commercial deals with other airlines for access to "behind-gateway traffic in Australia". The inability [for Hawaiian] to gain traffic from other airlines via code-share deals increased the risk of its own international expansion and could stop it from increasing flights on a route, thereby "reducing competition and causing public detriment", the airline said.
South African Airways (SAA) chief, Nico Bezuidenhout, said SAA is considering re-establishing its partnership with Qantas to regain a foothold in the Sydney market. Qantas terminated a 14 year-long codeshare agreement with SAA last May after Australia's International Air Services Commission (IASC) extended the deal's approval by only twelve months rather than the five years requested.
In related news, the ACCC is expected to announce its decision on the proposed five-year alliance between Qantas Airways and China Eastern Airlines by August 31.
