Qantas, American Plan Closer Transpacific Link

Qantas plans to launch a flight to Oneworld partner American Airlines’ Dallas/Fort Worth hub, and the carriers say they will also apply for a closer commercial partnership.

The Sydney-DFW flights are scheduled to begin May 16 using a Boeing 747-400, with the return flight stopping in Brisbane before continuing to Sydney. The service will initially be four times a week, but the airlines say they want to increase frequency to daily.

No regulatory approval is required because the flights are covered under the existing U.S.-Australia aviation agreement, a Qantas spokesman tells Aviation Week. The carriers already have approval for the additional U.S. domestic code share flights planned.

The spokesman confirms that the planning for this route has been underway for “quite a while.” It is believed the airline wanted to launch it sooner, but was prevented by its long-haul capacity squeeze caused by the grounding of its Airbus A380 fleet.

This route will link the two major domestic connecting points for the two airlines. Qantas and American “intend to deepen their existing relationship and will be seeking regulatory approval from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and other relevant authorities for this expanded commercial relationship,” Qantas CEO Alan Joyce says.

If it gains the necessary approvals, the enhanced commercial agreement would “involve coordination of operations between Australia/New Zealand and the United States,” Qantas says.

The Qantas spokesman stresses that the proposed agreement will not cover revenue sharing. However, “everything else will be on the table,” he says. This would include joint sales and marketing, revenue and schedule planning, and joint airport services. There is also the possibility of closer frequent flyer links, the spokesman says.

Qantas says the DFW link gives it “a stronger and more balanced network footprint” in the U.S. It will add 13 new U.S. and three Mexican code share destinations.

The Australian carrier is further reshuffling its U.S. service by discontinuing its direct Sydney-San Francisco flights from May 14. San Francisco will still be served as a code share destination.