‘Fiercely competitive’ Qantas, Air NZ strike a code-share deal

Qantas and Air New Zealand plan to remain ‘fiercely competitive’ despite striking a code-share deal.

Alan Joyce with Christopher Luxon.

Qantas and Air New Zealand plan to remain “fiercely competitive” despite striking a code-share deal that will add 115 new domestic routes in Australia and New Zealand.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce and his Air New Zealand counterpart Christopher Luxon said despite a special relationship on the trans-Tasman route, the airlines would ­remain competitive on other routes around the world.

“It’s a bit like high school ­because we’re frenemies. We have to compete incredibly strongly and we will continue to do that, but we will do (so) with great respect to each other,” Mr Luxon said.

The deal, struck yesterday, will see Qantas add its code on up to 30 routes on Air New Zealand’s domestic network, while Air New Zealand will add up to 85 routes to Qantas’s domestic network.

Eligible customers will have access to a combined total of 36 domestic lounges on both sides of the Tasman when flying on routes covered by the codeshare agreement, due to be available for travel from October this year.

Mr Joyce said the deal would mean co-ordination of check-in and handling at airports, leading to shorter connection times for all customers, with regional areas and frequent flyer members set to be the biggest beneficiaries.

“This is a big win for regional Australia and regional New Zealand because they are the people at the moment who have the most awkward time connecting and this will make a big difference,” Mr Joyce said.

But the deal is expected to pressure Virgin Australia, which has an agreement with Air New Zealand up for renegotiation in October.

“This is bad news for consumers,” a Virgin Australia spokesman said. “With the two major players in the New Zealand domestic market in partnership together, there’s no real com­petition in New Zealand and it is the consumer that will lose out.”

CAPA Centre for Aviation chairman Peter Harbison said the deal would seem to put Qantas and Air New Zealand in a strong position, but that would not necessarily be a good thing for consumers.

“If you think about the New Zealand domestic market where Qantas went in with Jetstar on both jet routes, and to a much more limited extent on regional routes, you’d have to question what the future value of that ­operation is for Qantas when this goes through,” he told The Weekend Australian.

But David Galt, Australia and New Zealand country manager for airfare comparison website Webjet, said the deal would ­increase the number of flight ­options available to consumers.

“The main benefit comes not from your big gateways like Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane or Auckland — it comes from the further-on destinations like, for instance, Darwin or Alice Springs or Hobart,” he said.