Qantas and Emirates have announced a new global aviation partnership, whereby Qantas will move its hub for European flights to Dubai and enter an extensive commercial relationship with Emirates. Whilst neither airline will take equity in the other, the 10-year partnership will go beyond codesharing by including integrated network collaboration with co-ordinated pricing, sales and scheduling, as well as a benefit-sharing model.
Qantas will launch daily A380 services from both Sydney and Melbourne to London via Dubai, and together Emirates and Qantas will offer 98 weekly services between Australia and Dubai. Qantas will be the only other airline operating to Terminal 3 and the new purpose-built A380 concourse at Dubai International Airport. Qantas customers will get one-stop access to more than 70 Emirates destinations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and for Emirates customers it will open up Qantas’ Australian domestic network of more than 50 destinations and 5,000 flights per week.
The Emirates and Qantas frequent flyer programs will also be aligned. The airlines will also provide reciprocal access to tier status benefits, including end-to-end customer recognition, lounge access, priority check-in, boarding and other exclusive services. The airlines will submit an application for interim authorisation to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, in order to begin commercial planning.
Subject to regulatory approval, it is anticipated that the partnership will commence in April 2013. Qantas will restructure its Asian network to strengthen its focus on services to and within the region. Qantas’ Asian services will no longer be a subsidiary of the ‘Kangaroo Route’, but will be dedicated to connecting Australians with the region, and Asian visitors to Australia. It will also increase dedicated capacity to Singapore and re-time flights to Singapore and Hong Kong to enable more ‘same day’ connections across Asia. Qantas will also withdraw from the Singapore-Frankfurt route due to underperformance. However, the partnership with Emirates will enable it to take place with minimal impact on Qantas customers.
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