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Virgin Australia's application to expand Alliance Aviation partnership set for rejection
October 24th 2022
Australia's competition regulator intends to turn down an application from Virgin Australia's (VA) regional arm, Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (VARA), and Alliance Aviation Services to extend their partnership on charter and fly-in fly-out (FIFO) services. Read More » In a draft determination, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) deputy chair, Mick Keogh, said the proposed extension of the agreement will continue to eliminate competition between VA and Alliance in providing FIFO services to corporate customers. “At present, the ACCC is not satisfied the public benefits claimed to arise from combining Virgin Australia’s charter fleet and national regular passenger network with the Alliance Airlines national charter network are likely to result from the extension of the agreement to the extent claimed by the applicants,” Keogh, said. The ACCC, which approved the applicant’s charter alliance for five years from 2017, has asked for industry feedback ahead of its final determination.
