Delta Air Lines and Australia's Virgin Blue Airlines Group on Wednesday announced plans to form an antitrust-immune joint venture covering U.S., Australian and other South Pacific routes.
The carriers have yet to apply for the required antitrust approvals to collaborate on network, pricing and product, but expect to work together on codeshareing, frequent flyer programs and airport lounge offerings "in advance of their joint venture," the airlines said in a statement.
"For Delta, this agreement is a significant milestone in the expansion of our global network in the Australia and South Pacific region," said Delta executive vice president for network and revenue management Glen Hauenstein in a statement. Delta last week launched daily service between Los Angeles and Sydney.
Virgin Blue Airlines Group includes domestic Australian carrier Virgin Blue and international airline V Australia, which serves Los Angeles from Sydney and Brisbane, and expects to launch Los Angeles-Melbourne service in September.
The U.S. Department of Transportation earlier this week tentatively approved V Australia's permit to expand air transport between U.S. and Australia "to the full extent authorized by the U.S.-Australia Air Transport Agreement," the open skies bilateral agreement finalized last year
(BTNonline, Feb. 15, 2008).