Virgin Australia and Virgin Atlantic apply to cooperate between Australia and the UK/Ireland

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission reported (03-Jun-2019) Virgin Australia and Virgin Atlantic applied for authorisation to enable them to cooperate in relation to services between Australia and the UK 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 authorisation is seeking permission for joint pricing, inventory management, scheduling coordination, network planning and marketing on services on the UK/Ireland 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, with a 21-Jun-2019 deadline. Submissions addressing Virgin Australia and Virgin Atlantic's request for authorisation should be provided by 28-Jun-2019. [more - original PR]