From the coalface, the rat has screwed the puppy.
The alliance with EK will look pretty, but the SLF lose their Asia stopover, which is a preferred option any day over DXB. Nothing wrong with DXB but it is generally stinking hot and beyond a lot of comfort zones.
Malaysia is the major winner directly from the pull off from Asia - Europe. How much sniggering is going on there in Board Room having joined Oneworld. Get your QF points and your Asian stopover with good fares, service and dirt cheap addons to such ugly destinations as Penang, Langkawi etc.
And how is QF going to go driving code shares ex Dubai? There needs to be a major rethink in yield management. The Pacific is a case in point. AA selling trans Pacific fares on QF metal at a significantly cheaper cost than the owner of the metal.
Block outs on the AA internal code shares with QF claiming that the owning carrier controls the QF yield where the opposite is obviously not the case on the longhaul.
Interesting phase we are entering, but not one we should be looking forward to in my opinion.
The turd may really be about to hit the turbine and the field of effect will be far reaching.
I so hope I am wrong.
Best all
EWL