Qantas’ Purchase of Alliance Blocked

The ACCC has recently openly opposed Qantas’ planned purchase of regional operator Alliance within Australia. It’s a move that would further shake up the Australian aviation industry and add to the Qantas monopoly.

The Australian flag carrier had been hoping to purchase Alliance. However, it has incurred many roadblocks, this being the latest. The ACCC had been locked in a heavy review process that would determine whether Qantas’s decision to purchase Alliance wouldn’t negatively impact the Australian sector. After that review, they decided it would.

If a merger was to go ahead, the ACCC warned that the repercussions on the people would be huge. Prices would likely rise the service would drop as well. This would be especially felt in Queensland and Western Australia states where Alliances feature prominently.

ACCC’s biggest reasoning is placing importance on the role the pair offer in the respective regions of transporting workers. If the pair came together, the competition would be gone, and prices would skyrocket.

The acquisition has long been opposed by the flying public and Australians, who are mainly of the same opinion. However, the news from the ACCC in the past day further re-affirms the stance.

Qantas will naturally look to take this higher up in attempts to tie the knot with Alliance formally in a deal they say had already been agreed upon but needs formal approval.