'Devil in plan' of Air NZ Qantas tie up

[oz_mark]

Good for Qantas, not good for us

An article from the BRW about the issue and how the airlines work around their previous stumbling blocks

Good for Qantas, not good for us
Regulatory capitulation to trade schemes entrenches anti-competitive behaviour.
By Paul Kerin
BRW. 08 June 2006

Fifty-one years ago, the then president of General Motors, Charles Wilson, was famously misquoted as saying "what's good for General Motors is good for the country". Substitute "Qantas" for "General Motors" and you have the basis on which Australian governments have mostly made aviation decisions for the past 86 years. The Federal Government's recent decision to preclude Singapore Airlines from the Pacific was a doozie. Buoyed by its lobbying success, Qantas (in cahoots with Air New Zealand) has cooked up what it calls the "Tasman networks agreement" (TNA). This is a grossly anti-competitive price-and-capacity-fixing contrivance, but the airlines fancy their chances of winning Government approval.

[...more...]

 

[Yada Yada]

Here is the latest news report on the QF/NZ plan. It looks like both sides will continue with this type of publicity in an effort to sway the decision-makers.

Air NZ fights for deal with Qantas
June 13, 2006 - 3:40PM

Air New Zealand says it may be forced to cut flights to Australia if its code-sharing proposal with Qantas is rejected.

Chief executive Rob Fyfe also rejected claims trans-Tasman air fares would rise if the deal went ahead.

More...

Nonetheless, later in the same article Fyfe is quoted as saying "It's very unlikely that we'd stop flying any (Tasman) routes although there are some routes that are marginal.", which seems to contradict the opening statement of the article.

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

Nonetheless, later in the same article Fyfe is quoted as saying "It's very unlikely that we'd stop flying any (Tasman) routes although there are some routes that are marginal.", which seems to contradict the opening statement of the article.

Not necessarily. Could reduce frequency. Eg ADL currently 3 per week drops to 1, SYD 4/5 per day drops to 3.

 

[wandering_fred]

As I understand Trans Tasman is Oz <-> NZ

Why is it I never expect to see QF flying PER-AKL even code sharing with NZ's existing flights?

Come on QF - surprise me......

Fred

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

As I understand Trans Tasman is Oz <-> NZ

Why is it I never expect to see QF flying PER-AKL even code sharing with NZ's existing flights?

Come on QF - surprise me......

Fred

Its better for you that they dont. QF mostly matches NZ fares (at least they do from NZ) and you get 2 lots of SCs.

 

[Yada Yada]

Now the federal government is passing positive comment on the plans:

Truss lauds Qantas, AirNZ price-fixing

Steve Creedy
June 15, 2006

A QANTAS plan to enter into a trans-Tasman price-fixing agreement with Air New Zealand received an encouraging boost yesterday, with Transport Minister Warren Truss saying it would help both airlines survive.

More...

And from the other side of the Tasman, this report about a possible "plan B":

Qantas has plan B if code-share rejected
15 June 2006
ALAN WOOD

Qantas Airways has a plan B in case its trans-Tasman code-share scheme with Air New Zealand falls over, regional boss Grant Lilly says.

However, Qantas is not revealing any details as it tries to get rivals and government authorities to accept the code-share to reduce losses and fuel used on the Tasman routes. At a time when fuel prices mean Qantas pours one of every three dollars it spends into its planes' fuel tanks, rivalry over the Tasman is more fierce than ever

More...

 

[Reggie]

Its better for you that they dont. QF mostly matches NZ fares (at least they do from NZ) and you get 2 lots of SCs.

Yes the SC's are nice but the fares in business are not matched. Air New Zealand is almost $1000.00 cheaper on the direct than Qantas via Syd or Mel. If you know otherwise please let me know.

 

[Mal]

Yes the SC's are nice but the fares in business are not matched. Air New Zealand is almost $1000.00 cheaper on the direct than Qantas via Syd or Mel. If you know otherwise please let me know.

Ex NZ, They are the same price. Not sure about Ex-Perth.

I always book one way ticket to/from NZ. Fares ex NZ are much better priced than fares ex Australia, and Qantas does not penalise you for one-way fares Trans-Tasman.

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

Yes the SC's are nice but the fares in business are not matched. Air New Zealand is almost $1000.00 cheaper on the direct than Qantas via Syd or Mel. If you know otherwise please let me know.

QF usually matches ex-NZ (but not business class to SYD or MEL - I guess they feel they have enough corporate contracts on those routes that it doesn't matter).

Same goes for NZ domestic - on the routes they compete the fares match exactly (when cheapest fare buckets available).