Qantas, China Eastern partnership extended to 2023

Australia’s competition watchdog has allowed Qantas and China Eastern to extend their strategic partnership until 31 March 2023, pointing out that the alliance will help both carriers navigate a post-pandemic demand recovery. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), in a decision issued on 29 January, allowed the carriers’ application for extension “given the crisis and market uncertainty created by the novel coronavirus [Covid-19] pandemic”. “In the context of the significant disruption to international travel resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, the ACCC considers that the extended [agreement] is likely to result in a public benefit by assisting the applicants to reinstate flights, and potentially grow the capacity they operate between Australia and China as travel restrictions ease, more quickly and in a more sustainable way than would otherwise be the case,” notes the commission. Qantas and China Eastern first entered into a partnership, known as a joint coordination agreement, in 2015, to coordinate operations between Australia and China.<br/>