Qantas strikes Emirates alliance

Qantas strikes Emirates alliance
By admin


Qantas will shift its hub for European flights from Singapore to Dubai as part of a far-reaching, 10-year alliance with Emirates.

The much-anticipated partnership was confirmed this morning with codeshares, joint pricing, sales and scheduling and frequent flyer benefits forming part of the deal.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce described the deal as the "biggest arrangement Qantas has ever entered into with another airline".

But there will be no equity investment on either side.

Under the alliance, Qantas will launch daily A380 flights to London via Dubai from Sydney and Melbourne and will become the only airline beyond Emirates to use Dubai's Terminal 3 which was purpose built for A380s.

In total, Qantas and Emirates will also codeshare on 14 daily service from Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane.

But Qantas said it will also increase "dedicated capacity" to Singapore and re-time flights to Singapore and Hong Kong to provide more same day connections across Asia.

The alliance will open up 30 European cities for Qantas via the Middle East and give Emirates better reach into regional Australia.

The arrangements will start in April 2013 pending approval by competition regulators.

The carriers will also co-ordinate their respective trans-Tasman operations with Emirates to introduce A380 daily services between Melbourne and Auckland in October.

The deal spells the end of Qantas's Joint Services Agreement (JSA) with British Airways with Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce saying it was the "right time to wind up the JSA".

Joyce said the alliance with Emirates was a "partnership of independent peers".

Central to the alliance will be the Qantas Frequent Flyer program, Joyce said.

"Qantas and Emirates will provide reciprocal access to tier status benefits which includes end-to-end recognition of customers, lounge access, priority check-in and boarding and more," he said.

More to come.

Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

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