Emirates said it may reach a codeshare agreement with Qantas Airways Ltd. (QAN) within six months as the Australian carrier seeks a partner to help revive unprofitable international operations.
“We’ve been engaging with them for some time,” Emirates Chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum told reporters in Dubai yesterday. “The objective is to eventually see Qantas fly through Dubai.” The two sides aren’t discussing a revenue- sharing accord, he said.
A tie-up may boost Qantas’s overseas business as the carrier would be able to access Emirates’ network of flights from Dubai, widening the range of one-stop services it can offer on Australia-Europe routes. Emirates would gain access to an Australian sales network run by the country’s largest carrier.
Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd. (VAH), the country’s No. 2 carrier, has formed a similar partnership with part-owner Etihad Airways PJSC that lets it sell one-stop tickets to Europe via Abu Dhabi, Dubai’s neighboring emirate. Qantas only offers one-stop trips to five European cities, via Singapore or Hong Kong, according to a route map on its website. It doesn’t fly to Dubai.
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