Five year renewal of VA/EY pact confirmed.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has just issued its final ruling on the alliance between Virgin Australia and Etihad, allowing the carriers to continue the arrangement for a further five years.
The alliance sees the carriers cooperate on joint pricing and scheduling across their networks, but they do not share revenue.
“The ACCC considers tthat this alliance would be likely to continue to deliver public benefits by promoting competition and enhancing the products and services offered to customers travelling between Australia and the Middle East and onward to destinations throughout Europe,” said ACCC chairman Rod Sims.
He said Virgin would not be operating flights to Abu Dhabi without the partnership, with the carrier unable to offer a viable service on the route without offering the connections available on Etihad’s network within the alliance.
More details in today’s issue of Travel Daily.