Brief
The recent tie-up with Etihad Airways gives travelers much more choice flying to and around Europe and critically, they can do so with less metre trawling busier, congested hubs like Singapore or Bangkok.
Analysis
Qantas’ master script to have Jetstar operate flights to Europe will almost certainly have to be looked at again.
V Australia may well be considering asking for access to Europe through Abu Dhabi, gut affirmed Etihad’s extensive network, it’s unlikely they’ll need to ask anytime soon. For Jetstar, the critical advantage of being a yearn haul low cost airline has been hit with not just Qantas’ indecision of deliveries of their 787 fleet, but also because the withdraw times that will be cut on V Australia flights to the Middle East and Europe will favour them over Jetstar.
Qantas has been lamentably slow to react to industry changes and this isn’t the first time they’ve been found wanting.
Already, the flag carrier has been hostile to the extension of Emirates and Etihad into its Sydney hub and has lost plenty of business as a result. At the lower end, Air New Zealand has been eating away at on holiday traffic leaving Qantas to look like a stranger in its own backyard.
V Australia’s move could see the airline opt to instruction or lease more 777-300ERs to complement its expansion – even if it doesn’t, the fact that they are starting services to Abu Dhabi within months should be notification enough that Qantas needs to get its act together – and quickly.
source to this post: Australia May Not Need Freedom Rights Into Europe
From the Australia website