Australia’s competition watchdog authorises Virgin-Qatar Airways alliance

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(Reuters) -Australia’s competition regulator said on Friday it had granted authorisation to Virgin Australia and Qatar Airways to operate flights between Doha and Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth under an integrated alliance for five years.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) had backed the alliance in February, after it gave its interim approval to Virgin Australia in November to market and sell 28 weekly scheduled return flights between Doha and the Australian cities.

“We consider that the conduct is likely to result in public benefits such as adding additional capacity on flights between Australia and the Middle East and is likely to result in minimal, if any, public detriment,” the ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey said.

“This will likely place downward price pressure on these routes and will also give customers of Virgin Australia and Qatar Airways a greater choice of international flights with additional connectivity and loyalty program benefits.”

ACCC said the applicants did not seek authorisation for proposed exclusivity arrangements, even though concerns were raised by interested parties on the alliance potentially reducing Virgin Australia’s ability to enter into partnerships with other airlines.

Interim authorisation will remain in place until the final determination comes into effect, the regulator added in its statement.

(Reporting by Shivangi Lahiri in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)