Qantas, Emirates share trans-Tasman flights to NZ from August 14
By David Flynn, July 25 2013
Qantas and Emirates will extend their alliance to trans-Tasmas flights beginning August 14.
Codeshare flights and 'aligned fares' designed to equalise Qantas and Emirates ticket pricing will come into effect as New Zealand becomes part of a joint Qantas-Emirates network.
Headlining the Qantas/Emirates push will be Emirates' A380 superjumbos, which currently fly from Sydney and Melbourne to Auckland – with Brisbane to follow from October 2 – offering true international-grade business class for trips over the pond.
(At a little over three hours, this is also one of the world's shortest Airbus A380 flights.)
Travellers will be able to book Emirates' trans-Tasman flights as codeshare services under Qantas flight numbers, resulting in a larger haul of frequent flyer points and status credits. Bookings for these flights will be available from August 14, the same day as services begin.
Between them, Qantas and Emirates will operate around 130 services per week from Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington and Queenstown to Australian east coast cities.
In a statement issued to the media Qantas said that "existing capacity on trans-Tasman routes that both Qantas and Emirates fly has been guaranteed as part of regulatory approvals."
However, this doesn't rule out timetable changes to existing AU-NZ flights to avoid Qantas and Emirates flights operating around the same time – a move which would result in a wider spread of services throughout the day – or adding new flights into other New Zealand destinations rather than overload cities like Auckland with too much capacity.
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David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
10 May 2011
Total posts 732
'aligned fares' designed to equalise Qantas and Emirates ticket pricing will come into effect
We all know what that will mean.... despite the fact that the ACC has probably looked at chances of potential price increase before approving, I am weary of the effects in the longer term.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
22 Feb 2011
Total posts 9
Agreed, will be interesting to see what happens to the pricing. EK offer great fares in F and J and if you book F you get the limo transfer as well.
02 Jan 2013
Total posts 140
I wonder how this "aligned fares" will work. Emirates seems to out-weigh Qantas when it comes to trans-tasman fares so either Emirates will either align their fares with Qantas high pricing or Qantas will reduce their fares to be competetive with Emirates, I could only wish for the second option.
16 Dec 2011
Total posts 49
I can only hope this means some of the Auckland flights will be diverted to Wellington. There seems to be about a 20% premium to fly in/out of the capital vs AKL/CHC..
07 Aug 2012
Total posts 192
As far as I understand from the ACCC's approval, QF/EK can't redirect existing capacity between AU-NZ. So the number of seats between each city pair can't be reduced. I don't see any new trans-Tasman routes for now.
Emirates Airlines - Skywards
07 Sep 2012
Total posts 146
In any other situation, this would probably mean the end of EKs ultra cheap flights across the ditch, but with so much capacity on their A380s it's difficult to see them lifting prices to QFs disgusting level. I fly MEL-AKL every 4-5 weeks so I'll be keeping a close watch on what happens and will be only too happy to call the ACCC if I smell a rodent.
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