Virgin Australia & Alliance Airlines

On 23 October 2020 Virgin Australia and Alliance Airlines (the Applicants) applied for authorisation to cooperate in relation to the provision of services on around 40 regional routes and two short-haul international routes (Relevant Routes). Details of the routes are provided in the application which is available from the link below.

The Applicants submit that they are seeking authorisation in order to efficiently manage capacity and quickly respond to changes in demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including by:

• Sharing information, including in relation to costs, willingness to operate, capacity, utilisation, anticipated demand and pricing about the Relevant Routes.
• Agreeing capacity, flight schedules, and aircraft type, including whether a carrier will suspend or continue operations, which carrier will operate the Relevant Routes and under what commercial arrangements (e.g. wet lease or codeshare, or a revenue - sharing model).
• Putting in place temporary commercial arrangements that are most suitable for the Relevant Route considering demand and risk profile in the exceptional current market conditions.
• Potentially, entering risk and revenue sharing mechanisms and agreements as to price.

A full copy of the application for authorisation is available below.

The Applicants have also requested interim authorisation to facilitate the immediate planning and coordination of services on the Relevant Routes prior to the ACCC's final determination in relation to the substantive application for authorisation.

The ACCC invites submissions on the interim authorisation request by 10 November 2020 and on the substantive application for authorisation by 20 November 2020. Further detail on how to make a submission is in the consultation letter below.

Timetable