oneworld

Australian regulators intend to reject an application by Qantas to renew and extend its codeshare partnership with New Guinea’s largest carrier Air Niugini. The Australian International Air Services Commission (IASC) said that service changes by Qantas in the Australia-New Guinea market have had the effect of shifting more market share to Qantas. The airlines’ proposed codeshare renewal would reduce competition and increase barriers to entry, and could result in other carriers withdrawing service, the IASC said. The current codeshare authorisation expires in July. Qantas had applied to renew it, and also to extend it to cover additional Australia-New Guinea routes. After reviewing the partnership and its effects on the market, the IASC issued a draft ruling that both the renewal and extension should be denied. <br/>

Search teams hunting for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 are facing a closing weather window, with still no sign of the Boeing 777's wreckage. Specialist organisation Ocean Infinity's chief, Oliver Plunkett, says that the lack of positive results is "disappointing" – although the company has been pleased by the performance of its technological systems. The search, which began towards the end of January, was originally expected to take around 90 days. Weather conditions, as the southern hemisphere approaches its winter season, are likely to limit the company's ability to continue searching this year, but its vessel – the Seabed Constructor – will be heading to the exploration zone for a final effort, once it undergoes resupply at Freemantle shortly. <br/>