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Final approval for Virgin–Alliance collaboration on 41 routes
The ACCC has granted final permission for Virgin and Alliance to collaborate on 41 regional routes until 31 March 2023.
Australia’s competition commission had earlier granted interim authorisation in November despite fierce opposition from Rex.
The deal will allow Virgin to share information on cost, capacity, and flight schedules with Alliance in order to help serve smaller towns with its post-administration, stripped-back fleet, arguing that ceding market share to Qantas could result in more expensive fares for passengers.
The 41 routes included services to regional towns from Brisbane, Alice Springs, Perth and Cairns. The full list is at the bottom of this article.
In its initial ruling published in November, the ACCC said, “The co-operation will allow Virgin Australia and Alliance Airlines to share information, and to agree on service capacity, schedules and potentially revenue sharing on the routes on which they operate, including for new routes not currently serviced by either airline.
“The co-operation will mean that Virgin Australia and Alliance Airlines will not compete with each other on the routes covered by the agreement.
“Our preliminary view is that any public detriment resulting from reduced competition between Alliance Airlines and Virgin Australia is likely to be limited, given Alliance Airlines’ limited number of scheduled regular passenger services. We will consider this issue further in the course of our review of the substantive application.
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https://australianaviation.com.au/20...n-on-41-routes