Virgin Australia/Delta alliance gets approval
Virgin Australia’s transpacific airline alliance with Delta has been given the green light to continue.
Virgin’s CEO John Borghetti had previously warned the airline’s Los Angeles flights would likely end if the Australian competition regulator failed to re-authorize the partnership.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) re-authorized the alliance for Virgin and Delta to offer a ‘single integrated network comprising their services between Australia and the US’.
“The ACCC accepts that this combined network is likely to be valued by travelers between Australia and the US, since the majority of such passengers connect from and/or to destinations behind and beyond the key gateway points,” ACCC Commissioner Dr Jill Walker said.
“The ACCC has reached the view that the alliance is likely to result in public benefit that would outweigh the detriment to the public through any lessening of competition.”
Borghetti said without teaming up both Virgin and Delta would be ‘insignificant players’ on a route which rival Qantas has a 54% market share.
Borghetti welcomed the approval, and said it would ‘boost tourism and continue to bring strong competition to transpacific travel’.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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