ACCC grants interim authorisation for Virgin Australia-Virgin Atlantic cooperation

4 July, 2019

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) granted (04-Jul-2019) interim authorisation for Virgin Australia to cooperate with Virgin Atlantic on services between Australia and the UK and Ireland via Hong Kong, Los Angeles and "any other future mutual connecting points". The authorisation will allow the airlines' existing codeshare agreement to be extended to coordinate on managing prices, inventory and marketing strategies. ACCC commissioner Sarah Court stated: "We do not think this enhanced cooperation is likely to lessen competition on the routes between Australia and the British Isles", with the interim authorisation remaining valid while the ACCC continues reviewing the application. A draft determination from the ACCC is expected to be available in Sep-2019. [more - original PR]