Opinion: Would QF links with both Qatar and Emirates be an anti-competitive problem?

[beardoc]

This is in "Open Discussion" because it's completely me thinking out loud, but Qatar joining oneworld and then QANTAS having a tie up with Emirates - could the ACCC have an issue with this in that it would tie up much of the growing Middle East Airlines for QANTAS, and therefore they reject the QANTAS/Emirates deal on that basis?

Of course, I have done no economic analysis, and I think it would be unlikely if this were to happen, but I wonder if the implications of tying up such a large chunk of a growing section of the airline market by QANTAS may lead the tie-up to be rejected, leaving QF to have to go down the codeshare with Qatar instead as part of oneworld.

Could it be possible?

 

[deadfish]

Re: Opinion: Would QF links with both Qatar and Emirates be an anti-competitive probl

It could go the other way around - EK deal approved, but forbid codesharing with QR on Aus-DOH once they come on board.

 

[casanovawa]

Re: Opinion: Would QF links with both Qatar and Emirates be an anti-competitive probl

Well stranger things have happened such as collusion on freight prices on routes by 'competing' airlines...

More choice is great obviously, but if it could in anyway lead to less competition on prices, frequencies etc then it might not be such a win for the flying public in the long run... As long as they police it well, but sometimes when the genie is out of the bottle as they say it can be hard to put back if it isn't what was expected...

 

[moa999]

Re: Opinion: Would QF links with both Qatar and Emirates be an anti-competitive probl

QRs current market share is very low on ME-Aus, or indeed UK-Aus, EU-Aus
but it does make the case more difficult

 

[Noob]

Re: Opinion: Would QF links with both Qatar and Emirates be an anti-competitive probl

QRs current market share is very low on ME-Aus, or indeed UK-Aus, EU-Aus
but it does make the case more difficult

If the size of market share is an issue, EK/QF have something to worry about

 

[elbarto]

Re: Opinion: Would QF links with both Qatar and Emirates be an anti-competitive probl

This is in "Open Discussion" because it's completely me thinking out loud, but Qatar joining oneworld and then QANTAS having a tie up with Emirates - could the ACCC have an issue with this in that it would tie up much of the growing Middle East Airlines for QANTAS, and therefore they reject the QANTAS/Emirates deal on that basis?

Of course, I have done no economic analysis, and I think it would be unlikely if this were to happen, but I wonder if the implications of tying up such a large chunk of a growing section of the airline market by QANTAS may lead the tie-up to be rejected, leaving QF to have to go down the codeshare with Qatar instead as part of oneworld.

Could it be possible?

The QF/EK deal goes much deeper than code sharing. If QR & QF don't go beyond the oneworld requirements, I don't see there being any issues. If they were trying to form some kind of joint business....... maybe.

 

[dajop]

Re: Opinion: Would QF links with both Qatar and Emirates be an anti-competitive probl

Just because QR joins oneworld, doesn't necessarily mean that QF & QR have to cooperate, or even be nice to each other. To illustrate look at how well QF & CX cooperate.

 

[moa999]

Re: Opinion: Would QF links with both Qatar and Emirates be an anti-competitive probl

If the size of market share is an issue, EK/QF have something to worry about

Size of the market and market concentration is the main issue for the competition authorities.
eg.. prior rejections of QF-NZ deals

However there is a large number of other airlines on the UK/EU-Aus market including BA, CX, SQ, MH, the Chinese etc...

CAPA shows even on Aus-NZ, NZ has more seats than QF/EK combined.
https://centreforaviation.com/analy...-of-the-season-next-qatar-into-oneworld-81650

 

[dajop]

Re: Opinion: Would QF links with both Qatar and Emirates be an anti-competitive probl

SiCAPA shows even on Aus-NZ, NZ has more seats than QF/EK combined.

As the saying goes there's lies, damned lies and then statistics. All depends on how you dissect the data. For NZ, you are overlooking JQ, which is coordinated with QF, and therefore QF/JQ/EK have more seats than NZ. But it swings back the other way if you aggregate NZ & DJ together, based on their commercial relationship. No one way is right or wrong, but whichever position an individual airline takes I'm sure the way they look at the figures will support their argument.