AUSTRALIAN & NEW ZEALAND airline co-operation is clearly not a dead issue (see ABTN 092704). In a strongly worded statement last week Qantas said that the decision of the Australian Competition Tribunal to authorise a proposed alliance between Qantas and Air New Zealand raised significant questions for the future of aviation in the region. Qantas chief executive officer Geoff Dixon said, ”whilst the reasons for the decision had not yet been released the Tribunal must have accepted the thrust of the airlines” arguments that the benefits that would flow from the alliance would clearly outweigh any detriment. We assume the Tribunal also agreed with the argument that the alliance would be in the national interest,” he added. ”We believe the disappointing recent decision by the New Zealand High Court to reject the alliance on appeal ignored both the reality of market-distorting Government ownership and intervention in the global aviation industry and the major structural changes that are occurring around the world,” he said. Mr Dixon said Qantas would stand by its decision not to appeal the verdict of the New Zealand High Court and would continue to hold talks with Air New Zealand about opportunities to work together without breaching competition laws.
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