Australian Competition Regulator Tentatively Reauthorizes Emirates-Qantas Alliance

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has proposed allowing Emirates Airline and Qantas to continue their antitrust-immunized alliance in which operations touching Australia are coordinated and Qantas passengers gain access to Emirates’ network via Dubai.

But the regulator says it “is concerned that the coordination may impact competition on the Sydney to Christchurch route, because Air New Zealand is the only other airline operating on that route.” 

ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey says: “We have included a condition in the draft approval, requiring Qantas and Emirates to provide the ACCC with information so we can monitor the competitive dynamics on this route during the term of authorization.”

Qantas and Dubai-based Emirates operate in Australia under what is called a Master Coordination Agreement enabling the carriers to coordinate passenger and cargo operations across networks, covering routes between Australia and Europe, New Zealand, Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. The carriers are seeking to have the alliance reauthorized for a five-year period.

ACCC first approved the alliance in 2013 and then reauthorized it in 2018. The agreement technically expired on March 31, but Qantas, LCC subsidiary Jetstar and Emirates are continuing to cooperate under an interim authorization while the ACCC completes its review.  

For Emirates passengers, the tie-up provides access to more than 55 Australian destinations Emirates does not serve, and Qantas passengers are able to fly with Emirates to Dubai and access more than 50 cities globally Qantas does not serve.

In the proposed five-year reauthorization the ACCC on the whole finds the alliance positive for Australia’s consumers. “The ACCC considers that the proposed conduct would be likely to result in public benefits, including increased connectivity and convenience and greater loyalty program benefits for consumers,” Brakey says. “The coordination will give customers greater choice of flight times and flexibility when traveling on routes where the operations of Qantas and Emirates overlap.”

The airlines have said Dubai, Perth and Singapore serve as hubs in the alliance, allowing “seamless connections to destinations across Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East.”