What is going to happen with Qantas and BA?

What is going to happen with Qantas and BA? Will they still remain mutual in OneWorld? And does this mean that Qantas passengers in London will use the Emirates lounge rather than the BA galleries lounge?

They'll both remain in oneworld and cooperate on certain routes, but not to the level they have previously.

In theory, Qantas Gold & Platinum frequent flyers will be able to access any of the following lounges (provided they're flying Qantas): AA Admirals Club / Flagship (T3), Cathay Pacific's Business/First lounges (T3), BA Galleries First/Club lounges (T3) or Emirates First / Business lounges (T3).

I suspect that due to the new EK/QF alliance that QF Business/First customers will only have access to the Emirates one.

What do you think the chances are of BA increasing services to Australia now the JSA is over.

Is a reentry to MEL likely

I think so, because after March 31, they have one flight to Australia on their own metal, and none on other peoples metal (codeshare)

That might be wishful thinking. Does the economics justify their own metal on LHR/MEL?

If it did surely that would not have gone down the JSA/Codeshare route!

I have a feeling they might leverage on MH's entry into OW. But having said that I don't know how conducive the yields are on LHR/KUL, let alone KUL/MEL!

Exactly....the original signs were that MH and QF would work together, however it seems that QF are walking away from alot of their ventures...BA, CX, AF.  Whilst KUL is not a huge stopover destination, I think MH might benefit from a closer BA relationship.  Or, BA and CX might start talking.

BA have signalled that their A380’s will be used on on the LHR SIN Route. To make best use of aircraft rotation it would make sense to continue that service to Australia.

It’s no secret that A380 services are hugely popular with travellers.

There’s a huge opportunity here for BA to achieve good yields on a route that Australians have become accustomed to and may not want to switch from.

The new QF/EK arrangement for all it’s benefits, also has many issues.

Wonder if this means Platinums will no longer get 100% bonus points when travelling with BA. 

A review of the earning tables of OW carriers with respect to the QF Frequent Flyer programme identified that only AA and BA flights currently get awarded with Status bonus (i.e. 100% bonus points for QF Platinums).

It is therefore safe to assume that this benefit is limited to the JSA relationship and not a standard OW relationship benefit.

Consequently come April 2013, it is reasonable to assume, QF Platinum members will no longer earn 100% bonus points on BA operated flights.

Ok thanks, but I am aware of all that, I was looking for some confirmation not conjecture :)

I assume pax will still be able to connect to a BA flight from SIN-LHR from say PER post 31st Mar next year, albeit a possible longer wait in SIN with the re-jig of Aust flight schedules into SIN?  Also pleasing to here the re-fit of SIN lounges are still going ahead - what will become of them, will they still be shared between QF/BA?

That's a very good point. What is to happen to all the BA/QF joint lounges? By that I mean purely the BA/QF joint ones such as the one in SIN; excluding the one at LAX, which is QF operated but designed for other OW carriers (AA/CX uses it too).

My guess is the lounge(s) would fall under the OW banner post 31st Mar, and much less crowded and even hopefully back open for the full day subject to the re-jigged schedules, opening for the full day again will also help with all the Jetstar flights ex-SIN in that are in the mornings and ealry afternoon, currently no lounge access for these flights until after 3pm.

Good point! Let's hope the Qantas folks are reading all this. Why pay for consultants when they've got us, customers, telling them what we want!

The SIN/HKG "joint" lounges are actually owned and operated by Qantas (hence their recent investment in the refurbishment). They were just rebadged as QF/BA as a result of the JSA.