Qantas is hopeful its new far-reaching 10-year partnership with Emirates will result in the resurrection of its former European network, chief executive Alan Joyce has revealed.
The much-anticipated partnership was confirmed this morning with codeshares, joint pricing, sales, scheduling and frequent flyer benefits forming part of the deal.
Joyce described the deal as the “biggest arrangement Qantas has ever entered into with another airline”.
It will open up 30 European cities for Qantas via the Middle East and give Emirates better reach into regional Australia.
Speaking at a media briefing in Sydney, Joyce described the tie-up as a “springboard” to start growing services into Europe with a range of opportunities to be boosted by the introduction of Boeing 787 aircraft in 2016.
Emirates president Tim Clark agreed the new deal was not solely concerned with growing the gulf carrier’s business into Australia.
“It’s about in the future, Qantas growing its own metal over Dubai into points in Europe and reentry into those cities that it served many, many years ago,” he said.
However, Joyce today confirmed Qantas will withdraw its operations to Frankfurt – it’s last route into mainland Europe.
But he asserted the airline’s commitment to continuing to serve London.
Under the alliance, Qantas will launch daily A380 flights to London via Dubai from Sydney and Melbourne and will become the only airline beyond Emirates to use Dubai’s Terminal 3 which was purpose build for A380s. Both airlines confirmed there would be no exchange of slots.
The alliance will start in April 2013 pending approval by competition regulators.
Under the partnership, the alliance will operate 14 daily Qantas-operated or coded Boeing 777 and A380 flights from Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne. Perth and Sydney to Dubai.
“Regional Australians are used to multi-stop journeys to Europe and home again,” Joyce said. “From April next year, for regional travellers it’s just two stops to the heart of Europe.”
Despite shifting its hub from Singapore to Dubai, Asia will remain a key focus for Qantas, Joyce said.
Qantas will increase “dedicated capacity” to Singapore and re-time flights to both Singapore and Hong Kong to provide more same day connections across Asia.
Joyce also signalled changes to the aircraft types employed an Asian services. He anticipated a “significant improvement” in the economics of its Asian operations as a result of the changes.
Meanwhile, plans to upgrade the premium lounges at Hong Kong, Singapore and Los Angeles will continue as planned.
