Major airline shake-up to get green light, ACCC plans to approve Virgin-Qatar deal

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Major airline shake-up to get green light, ACCC plans to approve Virgin-Qatar deal

The competition and consumer watchdog is happy with a major partnership deal between Virgin Australia and Qatar Airlines that will shake up *********** travel to and from Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

On Tuesday, the *********** Competition and Consumer Commission announced it proposed to grant the two airlines permission “to engage in cooperative conduct under an integrated alliance for five years”.

Under the deal, Virgin Australia will lease Qatar Airways’ aircraft and crew for new routes – 28 new weekly return flights between Doha and Perth, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.

Camera IconThe airlines were allowed to start selling tickets as part of the deal from November. Supplied Credit: Supplied

The competition watchdog allowed the two airlines to start advertising and selling the new flights in November and since has ruled the partnership would be beneficial for consumers.

“We consider that the proposed cooperative conduct would likely result in several public benefits, including providing enhanced products and services for air travellers that would include increased choice of international flights with additional connectivity, convenience and loyalty program benefits for consumers,” ACCC commissioner Anna Brakey said on Tuesday.

Virgin Australia only flies international routes to Indonesia, Fiji and Vanuatu since the airline went insolvent in the early days of the pandemic. US private investment firm Bain Capital brought Virgin Australia for $3.5bn only a few months later.

The Virgin-Qatar deal is subject to final regulatory approvals by the ACCC and other government bodies.

The ACCC will now ask for feedback on this draft determination before it makes a final decision.

More to come

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