American Airlines and Qantas are finalizing the schedules and fares for added service between the United States and Australia now that the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has granted interim approval for expansion of the carriers’ partnership.
Qantas plans to begin peak-day direct flights between Sydney
and San Francisco on Dec. 18 and increase to six days per week by January 2016,
the carrier announced Thursday. American will begin daily Los Angeles-to-Sydney
service on Dec. 19, allowing Qantas to move some service from Los Angeles to
San Francisco, according to Qantas.
“Our corporate customers in particular have told us they
look forward to saving about four hours each way by not having to connect
through Los Angeles,” Qantas International CEO Gareth Evans said in a
statement.
While the ACCC’s authorization green lights the added service
for later this year, the commission still must grant final authorization to the
expanded alliance. ACCC commissioner Jill Walker said in a statement the
interim authorization would likely benefit passengers without affecting the
market irreversibly should final authorization not come through.
The interim approval overrules Air New Zealand's objection, filed with the ACCC earlier this month, that the carriers did not provide “compelling evidence that the proposed conduct will not cause competitive harm.”