Miami: Australia’s iconic national airline, Qantas, will seek regulatory approval to extend their partnership with Emirates beyond the initial five-year period they were granted by the Australian Competition and Consumer Competition (ACCC) in 2013.
“We’ve always had the intention of keeping this going,” Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce told reporters on Tuesday at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) annual meet in Miami.
Qantas ended a 17-year relationship with British Airways and moved their London-bound stopover from Singapore to Dubai to ink the deal with Emirates, the largest airline by international seating capacity, in 2013.
“We’re very happy with the Emirates arrangement,” Joyce said.
This year, Qantas expects to carry 1.7 million passengers through Dubai on code-share flights with Emirates to Europe this year, Joyce said, compared to the 400,000 passengers that connected on Air France, Finnair and Cathay Pacific flights to Europe a year before the Emirates partnership.
The tie-up has given Qantas the flexibility to serve the Asian market directly with the Australian airline, commonly referred to as the flying kangaroo, only operating two daily flights beyond Dubai to London.
Joyce said this contributed to a A$300 million (Dh852 million) improvement in the airlines Asian operation.
This year Qantas posted its best half-year result in four years, making A$203 million, with its international unit making money for the first time in the history of the Emirates partnership.
In April, Emirates airline President, Tim Clark, told Gulf News he intended on extending their commercial tie-up, which gives Qantas passengers access to Emirates flights to more than 70 destinations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Asked about launching additional services beyond Dubai, Joyce said his airline is “sticking with what we have”, but said there was potential to launch services with the 787-9 Dreamliner.
Qantas has options and purchase rights for 50 Dreamliners and is currently scheduled to receive its first in 2017.
