News
Trans-Pacific competition intensifies
December 4th 2015
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has given draft approval for Qantas Airways and American Airlines (AA) to proceed with their enhanced trans-Pacific partnership for the next five years. The ACCC decision was made on the basis that without it, AA would be unlikely to fly to Sydney and Qantas would be unlikely to resume six times a weekly B747 flights to San Francisco. Read More » Qantas has suspended the Sydney-San Francisco service twice in the last decade. The deal, which deepens the Oneworld partners’ relationship to include trans-Pacific revenue sharing, has received final approval from New Zealand regulators, but the U.S. has yet to rule.
Competition “Down Under” is reaching record heights. Qantas rival, Auckland-based Air New Zealand (Air NZ), a Star Alliance partner of United Airlines, is increasing its trans-Pacific market share from Australia. "We are very serious in believing we can build a much bigger business in Australia," Air NZ CEO, Christopher Luxon, told the Sydney Morning Herald. "We have a great long-haul proposition for Australians. We can take you from an international port to an international terminal [in Auckland], widebody to widebody, seamless transfers."
Air NZ launched services to Buenos Aires, the industry’s first approved for 330-minute extended operations (ETOPS), and Houston this week. It is considering closing its own revenue sharing deal with partner, United Airlines, for flights between New Zealand and the U.S. as rival AA is launching a daily Auckland-Los Angeles B787-8 rotation from June.
Luxon said he was puzzled by some aspects of the pending Qantas-AA alliance. "For Qantas to come off Sydney-LA and to be back into San Francisco for the third time, which is not an American hub, I don't understand that," he said.
Qantas Group CEO, Alan Joyce, has gone on record numerous times about trans-Pacific growth. He said the carrier’s incoming B787-9s (from 2017) would be an ideal fit for non-stop services from Sydney to Chicago, another AA stronghold, in addition to other Qantas B787 frontrunner routes, including Melbourne-Dallas/Fort Worth and Perth-London.
Qantas subsidiary, Jetstar Airways made its domestic New Zealand debut on December 1, with multiple daily return flights from Auckland to Napier/Hastings and Nelson using Dash 8-300s. Jetstar’s New Zealand inaugurals were greeted with a punchy advert in The New Zealand Herald from arch-rival Air NZ, which shows a Jetstar aircraft with a Pinocchio-style stretched nose, referencing a Jetstar ad that said: "We're New Zealand's most punctual airline."
From February 1, Jetstar will launch flights from Auckland to New Plymouth and Palmerston North, alongside services between Nelson and Wellington, with five Dash 8-300s that will be based at Auckland’s Aotearoa International Airport to cover its operational demands.
