EK to the US? I'll be on it! Totally pi55ed off with the demise of QF service standards. Nothing to differentiate it from any other carrier on the market, and quite a bit worse in some cases, particularly with on-time departure. So happy to give EK a go. Or SIA, or
VB. Hopefully a caring carrier can supplement the route that the government anointed and protected QF has so thoroughly managed to rape and abuse for the last decade or two.
Is this story in anyway tied in with the thread on DFAT recommending international carriers have access to the domestic market? Granting EK Pacific rights doesn't make a great deal of sense unless EK also has domestic rights. Otherwise the company will be in the same boat as Untied (spelling intentional) without codeshare and on-carriage.