Qantas, Emirates await NZ green light
Qantas has talked up the positives that New Zealand would see from its alliance with Emirates as the carriers still wait for a verdict on their Tasman plans from NZ regulators.
One month after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) approved the alliance, NZ regulators have yet to make a ruling.
Despite the delay, which has frustrated the airlines and wider industry in NZ, Qantas executive manager international sales Stephen Thompson said the airline “respects the process”.
He used an address at TRENZ in Auckland to stress how NZ tourism and the travelling public would benefit.
Inbound tourism to NZ would receive a boost from the expanded network provided by Emirates while passengers would have “quicker, easier and seamless” access to Europe, Thompson said.
He also insisted it would maintain capacity on overlapping Trans Tasman routes and look to develop new city pairs, including Adelaide-Auckland.
“Our message to NZ is very clear, we are very committed to this market, we intent to invest in this market and we want to grow this market,” Thompson said. “The NZ Government is taking the time it needs to study the proposal closely and clearly we respect that process.
“We have approval in Australia and in Singapore and we are currently waiting for the NZ regulator.”
He said there were “compelling” arguments for the alliance to be approved but said it had “no intention of pre-empting the government’s decision”.
Thompson also thanked Tourism NZ for its positive response to the alliance and flagged a possible extension of a two-year marketing partnership with the tourism body.
Meanwhile, Thompson said the turnaround of Qantas’s international flying was continuing to progress well.
“Already we’ve achieved many of the goals we set ourselves back in 2011,” he said. “We have had to make some tough decisions which are never easy.
“We are heading in the right direction, but we know we still have a lot of work to do.
“We know areas that we need to continue working on. The key is that we have a relatively simple strategy to turn it around and we are making great progress.”
Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au
airlines alliance emirates nz qantas stephen thompsonLatest News
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