The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has issued a draft decision allowing Qantas to establish joint ventures in Singapore, China, Vietnam and Japan, using its subsidiary airline, Jetstar. Jetstar Asia, based in Singapore, will be a joint venture between Qantas and a Singapore citizen, the ACCC said today. The airline group will also link up with Vietnam Airlines to form Jetstar Pacific, and with Japan Airlines to form Jetstar Japan. Finally, Qantas will form Jetstar Hong Kong with China Eastern. The Qantas Group has established the joint ventures because it is not possible for the airline group to own airlines outside Australia, due to the international regulatory environment. Jetstar and the respective airlines will coordinate with each other on passenger and cargo services, predominately on intra-Asian routes, the ACCC saiACCC chairman, Rod Sims, said: “The ACCC considers that the coordination is likely to result in public benefits to consumers by increasing the likelihood of additional Jetstar flights and destinations in Asia, and providing increased online connections for consumers. “The ACCC considers that the coordination is likely to result in little, if any, detriment due to the fact that the Jetstar joint ventures are unlikely to be close competitors with each other with or without authorisation, nor are the joint ventures likely to be close competitors with their owners. “More importantly, in most instances where overlap does occur, there are multiple competitors present. As a result the ACCC considers that the proposed coordination is likely to result in little, if any, detriment.” The ACCC will now invite further submissions from the applicants and interested parties in relation to the draft determination prior to making a final decision on whether to authorise the conduct. Source: routenews
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