The important Australia-New Zealand aviation route is expected to heat up with Emirates and Qantas enhancing their shared network across the Tasman.
Ronald Bishop, Senior Lecturer at CQ University in Australia, said the partnership was going to box out competition on the popular trans-Tasman routes.
Earlier this week Emirates announced customers could now book on its shared network with Qantas on Australia-New Zealand flights.
Tony Webber, Associate Professor and former Chief Economist with Qantas, told Gulf News on Wednesday the new partnership could be the needed push to drive up prices on flights across the Tasman.
Airlines on the important route have been involved in a decade long price battle, driving air fares to an unsustainable level, Webber said.
Bishop said Qantas would be banking on it’s partnership to drive up air fares.
The Australia-New Zealand market was extremely important for airlines operating in the region, Bishop said.
Upsizing
The fact that Australia, a population of 22 million, had 55 million domestic passengers in 2012 shows how important it was for airlines, he said.
An Emirates spokesperson said the airline was up-sizing its existing Dubai-Brisbane-Auckland service from a Boeing 777-300ER to a 489 seat A380, increasing capacity by 38 per cent.
Webber and Bishop agreed that the trans-Tasman routes suffers from over capacity.
But Bishop said that the lure of an A380 would attract passengers from other airlines.
Emirates will probably take away passengers from other airlines on the Brisbane-to-Auckland route, he said.
He said the A380 gives the airline a “point of difference”.
Emirates could very well be hoping that people will want to fly the A380, he said.
“Until the 787 comes online it will probably be a good selling point. If I had the choice I would do it,” Bishop said.
Wingtip flying
The Emirates spokesperson said the core of its Qantas partnership was its ability to provide a seamless co-ordination of pricing, sales, capacity and scheduling.
Exisitng Emirates’ trans-Tasman services will remain fixed, the spokesperson said.
Qantas announced changes to their schedule on Wednesday.
The changes were likely made to reduce wingtip flying between the two partners.
Bishop said the changes would suit the Emirates-Qantas partnership but could lead to clashes with other airlines schedules. Wingtip flying is when flights on the same route take off and land within five and 20 minutes of each other.
A Virgin Australia spokesperson said the airline continually evaluates their schedule when asked if their would consider changes on flight times.
Virgin Australia is Qantas’ biggest competitor in the Australian domestic market.
Etihad Airways, Singapore Airways, and Air New Zealand all have stakes in Virgin Australia.
The Emirates spokesperson confirmed that the airline would compete in the price battle across the Tasman.
“The trans-Tasman is a hyper-competitive market and Emirates will continue to respond to market conditions,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said that the Emirates-Qantas joint network is a “superior proposition for travellers, particularly corporates with the reach and flexibility.”
The Virgin Australia spokesperson said the airline would continue to compete despite the Emirates-Qantas tie up.
“We continue to compete strongly on the trans-Tasman as we would on any other route.
The airline said it welcomed the competition. “The Trans-Tasman market is a very important part of our international network for both corporate and leisure cusomters,” the spokesperson said
The spokeperson said its alliance with Air New Zealand offered “better connections.”
Bishop said that current pricing levels are not sustainable.
“They cant afford to go lower. The battle line is drawn and once that’s drawn it basically makes it so whoever has the most reserves keeps going,” he said.
