British Airways has dropped strong hints that it may end services to Australia after it was spurned by long-time alliance partner Qantas in favour of Emirates. In a submission to the ACCC, BA said the 17-year revenue sharing alliance, set to end in March, has been a vital part of its Australia services, allowing it
Despite months of heated rhetoric and duelling plans to bolster domestic capacity, Qantas and Virgin Australia have apparently thought better of a fare war as they seek to preserve their bottom lines. The Australian Financial Review reports that flight cancellations at both carriers spiked during August and September as they sought to bolster load factors.
An RAAF air traffic controller has been suspended after placing two Qantas aircraft on conflicting flightpaths over Darwin last week, according to the ATSB. The safety regulator is investigating the “loss of separation assurance” between the Qantas 737 and QantasLink 717, which occurred when the arriving 717 was told to descend through the same level
The federal government has thrown its support behind Qantas’s proposed alliance with Emirates, saying the tie-up would benefit consumers and bolster competition. The backing by the Department of Infrastructure and Trade came after Qantas withdrew its request to the ACCC for interim approval of the alliance, which had drawn objections from rival Virgin Australia. Qantas
Qantas and Emirates have withdrawn their application for interim approval of their proposed alliance but say they will be able to begin planning the tie-up anyway. The two airlines had sought interim approval from the ACCC to begin co-ordinating their activities ahead of the alliance’s planned start in April next year. Unions and rival carriers,
Qantas has announced it will sell its 50 percent share of StarTrack to Australia Post and in parallel will acquire full ownership of Australian air Express (AaE). Since 2003 Qantas and Australia Post have each owned 50 percent of StarTrack and AaE. In a move that aims to optimise return on the airline’s airfreight investments