ACCC clears China Eastern, Qantas alliance

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has decided, on balance, to grant authorisation, subject to important conditions, for Qantas and China Eastern to coordinate their operations between Australia and China under a proposed Joint Coordination Agreement. In March 2015 the ACCC released a draft determination proposing to deny authorisation. Since then Qantas and China Eastern have provided significant commitments to add additional frequencies and destinations between Australia and China if the alliance is authorised. Over the next two years China Eastern proposes to increase the frequencies of its services on routes between Shanghai and Sydney, Melbourne and Cairns during peak periods and introduce year round services on a new route, the details of which were provided to the ACCC confidentially. Qantas and China Eastern also propose to significantly expand the range of destinations covered by their existing codeshare Agreement. The proposed co-location of Qantas with China Eastern at Terminal 1 at Shanghai Pudong International airport will also allow more convenient and quicker connections for Qantas passengers transferring to a China Eastern flight in Shanghai. Authorisation has been granted for five years. To continue the alliance beyond this Qantas and China Eastern will need to apply for re-authorisation.