Virgin Blue alliance gets approval
Australian authorities have granted an alliance between the country’s budget airline Virgin Blue and Air New Zealand.
Regulators gave permission for the carriers to co-ordinate prices, schedules, capacity and routes between the two countries.
The alliance had initially been rejected in a draft decision in September, but the regulators said it now had more information about the impact on customers and had decided to give the go-ahead.
The airlines had to agree to make more seats available on certain flights to prevent the airlines from raising ticket prices.
After the announcement, Virgin Blue shares rose by 5.9%.
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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