Qantas opposes Virgin Blue-Etihad alliance
By
Ghim-Lay Yeo
Qantas Airways has protested against plans by Australia's
Virgin Blue and Middle Eastern carrier
Etihad Airways to form an alliance, and has urged Australian regulators to not grant interim approval to the tie-up.
The Oneworld carrier says it is concerned the alliance could lead to "more widespread price coordination across the broad codeshare network", including on routes between Australia and Europe.
Virgin Blue and Etihad announced plans last month to join their networks and codeshare on flights between Australia and Abu Dhabi. The two carriers also plan to integrate their frequent flyer programmes.
In a submission to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Qantas says that "it is not possible that the applicants will not also be coordinating prices between Australia and Europe".
"Since Abu Dhabi attracts only a small volume of point to point travel, the true value of the proposed alliance rests in access to international markets, and for Virgin Blue, the ability to offer services from Australia to UK / Europe," adds Qantas.
"The consequences of such coordination should be fully analysed before the applicants begin any cooperation."
Qantas and Etihad have an existing codesharing agreement on certain flights but Etihad's CEO James Hogan has said the partnership is too limited.
If interim approval is granted, Virgin Blue and Etihad will begin their partnership from 1 October. Virgin Blue customers will have access to Etihad's network of 65 destinations while Virgin Blue will offer 44 Asia-Pacific cities to Etihad passengers.