Qantas, Emirates announce global aviation partnership

Qantas and Emirates announced a new global aviation partnership. Under the agreement signed on September 6th by Emirates President Tim Clark and Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce, Qantas will move its hub for European flights to Dubai and enter an extensive commercial relationship with Emirates. The 10-year partnership will go beyond codesharing and includes integrated network collaboration with coordinated pricing, sales and scheduling as well as a benefit-sharing model. Neither airline will take equity in the other. Qantas will launch daily A380 services from both Sydney and Melbourne to London via Dubai, meaning that together Emirates and Qantas will offer 98 weekly services between Australia and Dubai. Qantas will be the only other airline operating to Terminal 3 and the new purpose-built A380 concourse at Dubai International Airport. As part of this announcement, Quantas also said that it will terminate the joint business with British Airways from 31 March 2013.