ACCC grants interim approval to Qantas and American Airlines agreement
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has granted interim authorisation for a proposed Joint Business Agreement (JBA) between Qantas and American Airlines. Under the proposed JBA, the airlines will coordinate operations on services between Australia/New Zealand and the US (the trans-Pacific routes), and on their respective services which support the trans-Pacific routes. Qantas and American Airlines do not currently compete directly on any routes. Interim authorisation will enable the parties to undertake a coordinated sales and marketing campaign in both Australia and the US. Qantas recently commenced services to Dallas/Fort Worth and has sought interim authorisation to support this service. A draft decision on the substantive application will be issued in Aug/Sep-2011. [more]