Qantas submits response to IASC regarding Virgin Australia's Tokyo Haneda slot application

9 October, 2019

Qantas submitted (02-Oct-2019) a response to Australia's International Air Services Commission (IASC) regarding Virgin Australia's application for slot allocation at Tokyo Haneda Airport. Key details include:

  • Allocation of two frequencies per day to Qantas will benefit the public and is the only no risk option to launch and utilise scarce and strategically valuable slots at Tokyo Haneda Airport;
  • Qantas is of the view that Virgin Australia has not demonstrated that its application will meet the reasonable capability criterion;
  • Access to Haneda is not determinative of whether effective competition exists on the Japan route;
  • The Qantas A330-300 aircraft will be used on the route, including 297 seats and 40% more business class seats than Virgin Australia to better target the corporate traveller that favours Haneda Airport. This capacity provides an additional 44 seats per day, with over 16,000 p/a;
  • Qantas disagrees with Virgin Australia claims that competition is required to place downward pressure on air freight rates due to recent growth in demand on the Brisbane-Tokyo sector. [more - original PR]