Virgin Australia & Virgin Atlantic

On 3 June 2019, Virgin Australia and Virgin Atlantic applied for authorisation to enable them to cooperate in relation to services between Australia and the United Kingdom and Ireland via mutual mid-points in Hong Kong and Los Angeles, and any future mutual connection points (the UK/Ireland Route) with arrangements to be formalised in a formal cooperation agreement if authorisation is granted.

Virgin Australia and Virgin Atlantic are also seeking interim authorisation to give effect to the full range of conduct for which authorisation is sought.

The conduct for which authorisation is sought includes joint pricing, inventory management, scheduling coordination, network planning and marketing on services on the UK/Irelant Route; Virgin Australia and Virgin Atlantic also propose to cooperate in relation to product alignment, airport operations, joint procurement and tenders for corporate contracts.

The ACCC invites submissions from interested parties on the application. Submissions relating to Virgin Australia and Virgin Atlantic's request for interim authorisation should be provided by 21 June 2019. Submissions addressing Virgin Australia and Virgin Atlantic's request for authorisation should be provided by 28 June 2019.

The ACCC will progress its assessment of the application in a timely manner. An indicative timetable is set out below for your information: