Issue 298: To The Rescue?

For the last 65 years Qantas has plied the Kangaroo Route to London via Asia. Signalling that traditional thinking no longer applies, Qantas is adapting its international model to emulate the tremendously successful Middle East hub strategy, turning its back on British Airways and hubbing through Singapore to form a new service agreement and with it a new gateway to Europe.

At first glance it might appear a counter-intuitive strategic move to bring such a dominant and competitive airline alongside as a fighting companion, but just as the benefits were proved of doing so with British Airways under the soon to be defunct Joint Services Agreement (JSA), the partnership with Emirates does stand to deliver performance benefits.

The history of Qantas and Emirates has not been blessed with positivity. When the Dubai-based airline entered the Australian market in the late 90s it did so with a codeshare agreement with Qantas. However, within two years the relationship was becoming an uncomfortable fit as Emirates began to claim a growing share of the Australian market. Since parting ways, Emirates has been blamed for stealing market share supported by what have been widely headlined as “unfair advantages”, no less so in Australia where it has taken a significant market share of what was once the domain of Qantas.