Chamber Welcomes ACCC Draft on Code Share

Chamber Welcomes ACCC Draft Determination on Code Share

The Wellington Regional Chamber of Commerce welcomes the release of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s draft determination on the application from Qantas and Air New Zealand for a code share arrangement.

The Wellington Regional Chamber of Commerce was the first New Zealand entity to make a submission to the ACCC. The Chamber has never expressed opposition to the proposed code share. Rather the Chamber was concerned about possible negative consequences for competition on the Wellington-Melbourne, Wellington-Sydney and Wellington-Brisbane markets. The Chamber could see few positives to outweigh potential negatives. The ACCC’s draft determination suggests that the Chamber was right to be concerned.

The Chamber is in the process of giving the draft determination full consideration, and it is likely that the Chamber will be making a further substantive submission to the ACCC on this.

The Chamber has said all along that it will be happy to accept the decisions taken by ACCC and by the New Zealand regulators. (The Chamber believes that a number of the requests made by Air New Zealand and Qantas fall outside the scope of the responsibility given by the New Zealand Ministry of Transport by the Civil Aviation Act so the application should be considered by the Commerce Commission also). The Chamber expects that all other parties will likewise respect the integrity of the Australian and New Zealand regulatory processes.

The Wellington Regional Chamber of Commerce is keen to work with Air New Zealand, Qantas and other airlines to ensure that the Wellington-Australia markets are as successful and profitable as possible.

ENDS

© Scoop Media