The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has received a further application from Ansett Australia, Ansett International, Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines concerning a proposed alliance agreement.
The new application seeks authorisation for that part of the proposed agreement which may be considered to be an exclusionary provision for the purposes of the Trade Practices Act. The clause in question specifies that Ansett will not enter into any alliance agreement with another carrier in South Eat Asia, India or the Middle East. This most recent application was received on 5 March 1998.
The initial application, lodged on 23 December 1997, is seeking authorisation for those parts of the proposed alliance agreement which may have the effect of substantially lessening competition. The ACCC invited submissions on the initial application from a wide range of potentially interested parties and gave until 27 February 1998 for submissions to be lodged.
The proposed alliance agreement involves a wide ranging alliance between the four airlines which, if approved, would enable them to cooperate more closely in areas such as passenger services, marketing, operations and procurement. The application claims that the alliance is pro-competitive and will provide a credible competitive force to the Qantas/British Airways alliance. All of the submissions received to date support the proposed alliance.
The ACCC has written to interested parties concerning the new application and invited additional submissions. The closing date for additional submissions is 27 March 1998.
The ACCC intends to process both applications at the same time as they relate to the same agreement. However, finalisation of its consideration of the agreement will be delayed slightly as a result of this new application and the need to seek additional submissions.
A copy of the applications is available from the ACCC office in each capital city.