Emirates: Qantas ultra-long haul ambitions may push partnership into 'reset mode'

Emirates president Tim Clark commented that Qantas' decision to embark on ultra-long haul operations, such as its upcoming Perth-London nonstop service, will need to be worked through in the context of their partnership (The Age, 31-Jan-2018). Sir Tim said he expects Qantas will move more European traffic onto nonstop flights via Perth, and other Australian cities once newer ultra-long haul equipment becomes available, although it is "anyone's guess" what the effect the introduction of these operations will have on Emirates' operations into Australian cities. If traffic "flatlines or goes south, all of us have to go into a reset mode", said Sir Tim. Emirates and Qantas announced changes to their partnership relationship in late 2017, with Qantas abandoning Dubai as its stop-over for Australia to Europe operations in favour of Singapore, from Mar-2018, and Emirates announcing it will end trans Tasman operations.