Summary
On 22 November 2022, British Airways plc (BA), Qatar Airways Group Q.C.S.C. (QR) and Iberia Líneas Aéreas de España (IB) (together, the Applicants) applied for authorisation to enable them to coordinate air passenger services on routes between Australia and the United Kingdom and Europe.
On 7 May 2020, the ACCC granted authorisation to BA and QR to coordinate air passenger services on routes between Australia and the United Kingdom and Europe (the May 2020 Authorisation). The May 2020 Authorisation and associated joint business agreement covered various routes between four Australian cities and the UK/Europe and Qatar, including the trunk route of London-Doha, and over 80 routes behind and beyond London and Doha.
BA and QR, in conjunction with IB, now intend to enter into an expanded joint business agreement, which would increase levels of cooperation and geographic coverage, encompassing routes between:
- (i) The UK and Europe, and (ii) certain destinations in the Middle East, Asia (excluding China, Japan and South Korea), Eastern and Southern Africa and Australasia.
- (i) the Middle East, Asia (excluding China, Japan and South Korea), Eastern and Southern Africa and Australasia, and (ii) certain destinations in Latin America.
Notably, the expanded agreement includes Sydney-London as a trunk route.
The authorisation sought would allow the Applicants to coordinate all their passenger related services along the specified routes, including:
- codesharing arrangements
- schedule coordination
- capacity
- distribution of journeys
- handling of customers
- joint pricing and selling of routes
- marketing
- joint selling to agency and corporate customers
Authorisation is sought for a period of five years. The Applicants also seek urgent interim authorisation to give effect to the conduct while the substantive application for re-authorisation is being assessed by the ACCC.
A copy of the application for authorisation is below. The ACCC invited submissions on this application for authorisation by 25 January 2023.
An indicative timeline is set out below:
|
Indicative date |
Stage in assessment process |
|---|---|
|
22 November 2022 |
Lodgement of application and supporting submission. |
|
7 December 2022 |
Public consultation process begins. |
|
25 January 2023 |
Closing date for submissions from interested parties. |
|
March 2023 |
Interim authorisation decision and draft determination. |
|
April 2023 |
Public consultation on draft determination including any conference if called. |
|
April/May 2023 |
Final determination. |
Authorisation number(s)
- AA1000630-1