Qantas/SAA seeks 7 months of “certainty” on Jo’burg route.
Qantas is seeking an extension of its codeshare alliance with South African Airways between Australia and South Africa until 31 Mar 2013, unwilling to accept the International Air Service Commission’s decision to break the airline pact which has previously been ruled to end on 31 Dec.
In a letter to the IASC made public this afternoon, Qantas said it wants to “continue to effectively operate and market seats” with SAA on the Sydney-Johannesburg route, also confirming it is seeking a continuation of the authorisation, expected to be submitted by the end of Jun.
“In order to give the commission adequate time to consider our new application and also ensure that the carriers are able to successfully market and sell under the Code Share Agreement in the meantime, we request an interim authorisation allowing for the Code Share Agreement until at least 31 Mar 2013,” QF general counsel Brett Johnson told the IASC.
Johnson said QF & SAA require “at least 7 months of certainty” following any decision the Commission is likely to make.
The period consists of a six month booking window and one month “in the event that authorisation is not given, one month for the parties to take the actions necessary to unwind the Code Share Arrangements,” he said.
More information in tomorrow’s issue of Travel Daily.