Virgin Australia Airlines Pty Ltd & Ors - Revocation and Substitution - A91475 - A91478

Virgin Australia and Delta (the Applicants) have sought re-authorisation for 10 years to coordinate their operations on the trans-Pacific routes between Australia and the United States pursuant to the existing Alliance.

The Allliance involves coordination and agreement between the Applicants for passenger and freight services on trans-Pacific routes in relation to:
- the planning and management of operations including schedules, capacity, aircraft deployment and routes flown
- pricing and revenue management
- sales and marketing activities
- frequent flyer and lounge program offerings
- purchasing and procurement.

The Alliance also enables the sharing of revenue under arrangements founded on the principle of metal neutrality, which is intended to provide incentives to each alliance party to market services irrespective of which party is operating the aircraft.

On 14 August 2015, the ACCC decided to grant authorisation to Virgin Australia and Delta Air Lines until 7 September 2020.

The ACCC also decided to grant interim authorisation to the airlines to continue their alliance while the ACCC completes its review of the application for re-authorisation. Interim authorisation will take effect from 1 July 2015.