Qantas and Emirates-style airline alliances to push up prices for travellers - Richard Branson

TRAVELLERS will end up paying more to fly because of big airline tie-ins like the Qantas-Emirates alliance, Richard Branson says.

Sir Richard Branson says the travelling public will pay for alliances between major airlines.

TRAVELLERS will end up paying more to fly because of big airline tie-ins like the Qantas-Emirates alliance, Richard Branson says.

The Virgin boss, in Dubai for a conference, said governments should prevent such links between major carriers because they stifled competition.

Mr Branson said a “weak regulator” had allowed British Airways and American Airlines to join forces in 2010, pushing Virgin Atlantic into an alliance with Delta, arabianbusiness.com reports.

“And the regulators have allowed Qantas and Emirates to get together, and so there’s no real competition on that route (between Australia and Dubai),” he was quoted as saying.

“Good government would never have allowed that to happen and you’ve now got less than a handful of big carriers around the world and prices will go up as a result.

“And it’s going to be incredibly difficult for any new airline to ever, ever, ever get up and compete with that.”

Alan Joyce at a press conference in Dubai last year.

He added: “Competition brings better fares and better quality than co-operation but the regulators in their wisdom have decided to create a number of very big, very big alliances.

“If you’re in an alliance and you’re on the same route as your alliance partner, you know what’s going to happen: fares are going to go up and why should they do better service?”

Qantas was given approval for its Emirates airline alliance last year, with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission saying it was satisfied the public would benefit through easier access to more destinations and improved scheduling.

At the time Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said: “Qantas is an Australian icon and the future of its international business is much brighter with this partnership.

“Customers are already responding very strongly to the joint network that Qantas and Emirates have built, and to the frequent flyer benefits that extend across it, with a significant increase in bookings.’’