Qantas has added Tonga to their network, expanding leisure opportunities for Australian tourists. Separately, the carrier expressed confidence that their acquisition of Alliance Aviation would not impact competition in the charter Australian segment.
On Thursday (August 18, 2022), Qantas announced the launch of new service between Sydney and Nuku’alofa’s Fua’amotu Airport in Tonga. The carrier will operate weekly service on Thursdays, offering the only direct service between Australia and Tonga. The inclusion of Tonga on Qantas’ international network follows the recent addition of service to Samoa, as the carrier grows their post-pandemic South Pacific commitment. Qantas will operate the route between Sydney and Tonga with an Airbus A330.
In Thursday’s announcement, a Qantas Spokesman said,
“Since the opening of Australia’s border, we have seen strong demand across our Qantas operated South Pacific services. In fact, Fiji is 50 per cent higher than pre-COVID demand, Noumea is 13 per cent higher and flights to Samoa are performing ahead of expectations. These flights will help Australian-based South Pacific Islanders visit family and friends back home, as well as providing travel hungry Australians a choice of Pacific neighbours to explore. We anticipate the Tonga services will be well-supported by both Tongan nationals and Australians opportunities to this beautiful Pacific Island kingdom.”
In a separate press release on Thursday (August 18, 2022), Qantas reaffirmed their position that their proposed acquisition of Australian charter airline Alliance Aviation Services, Ltd., would not impact competition in the country’s highly competitive charter segment. Currently, Qantas owns just under 20 percent of Alliance and is also their biggest customer, enabling better service to the country’s growing resources sector. At this time, Alliance only represents two percent of the total aviation industry in Australia, while providing 30 percent of charter services. The remaining market share belongs to Qantas (around 23 percent) and Virgin Australia (around 22 percent), along with a number of other smaller operators.
In Thursday’s announcement, Qantas Group’s Executive of Associated Airlines and Services, John Gissing, said,
“Australia has one of the most pro-competitive aviation industries in the world, as shown by the post-COVID expansion of carriers domestically and growth in the resources sector itself. There are a significant number of charter operators of different sizes and that makes it an extremely competitive segment. We’re confident our acquisition of Alliance does not substantially lessen that competition and we’ll work through the ACCC’s [Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's] process to support that position and address their initial concerns.
“As the ACCC has previously acknowledged, customers in the resources flying segment are sophisticated and well-resourced companies with procurement expertise who have strong bargaining power in their negotiations with airlines and other operators. The resources sector continues to grow and any new tender for airline services will be very competitive. It makes a lot of sense for us to combine with Alliance to improve the services we can offer, which is a positive for both airlines as well as the travelling public.”
In regard to the acquisition of Alliance, Qantas states that after acquiring just under 20 percent of Alliance Airlines in February 2019, they expressed to the ACCC their desire to ultimately acquire 100 percent of the charter operator. After an exhausting three-year investigation, the regulatory body found no proof that it would lessen competition. In contrast, Rex recently announced the acquisition of charter operator National Jet Express from Cobham Aviation and received ACCC approval 11 days later. According to Qantas, in addition to a fleet of newer Embraer aircraft, Alliance has around 70 older Fokker jets which are ideally suited for charter services, especially to service the country’s vital resources sector. With the acquisition, Qantas and Alliance could optimize their Fokker fleets, extending the economic lifecycle by five additional years.
Source(s): Qantas, Alliance Airlines
Comments