accc loves qannnnnnnn

Kangaroo route twosome irks Virgin
By Scott Rochfort
Sydney
August 25, 2004

Virgin Atlantic says it is dismayed by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's "perverse decision" to extend Qantas' and British Airways' joint services agreement for five years.

The airline said it was surprised at the proposed extension of the deal, or JSA, given the ACCC conceded it would result in a "substantial lessening of competition" for business travellers on the Australia-Britain Kangaroo Route.

"The ACCC has found that the agreement between BA and Qantas will reduce competition and increase fares - particularly for business travellers, where BA and Qantas control 60 per cent of the market," Virgin Atlantic Australia's head of marketing, Gia Acitelli, said.

"Consumers are best served when airlines compete for their business on quality and price. BA and Qantas serve only their own interests and not those of consumers when they collude to set fares and schedules," she said.

Virgin Atlantic, which is scheduled to start daily services from London to Sydney via Hong Kong on December 8, said it was looking for grounds to challenge the decision.

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But ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel said Virgin's reaction "puzzled" him, suggesting it was made without substance or consideration of the ACCC's 150-page draft determination.

In its draft, the watchdog said concerns over the impact of the JSA on the "small portion" of business traffic on the Kangaroo Route was outweighed by strong competition for leisure traffic.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/08/24/1093246530290.html