Australia bars Singapore Airlines from trans-Pacific route
The Australian government denied Singapore Airlines access to the lucrative route between Sydney and Los Angeles today, dismissing years of lobbying from Singapore.
Transport minister Warren Truss said the benefits of Singapore Airlines flying the trans-Pacific route would bring only minor benefits to the Australian tourism industry and could have a negative impact on the economy.
Currently, the route is flown only by the national carrier Qantas and United Airlines. Qantas Airways controls 75% of the market share on the Australia-US route, from which it derives around 15% of its net profit.
For the last decade, Singapore Airlines has been lobbying for access to the lucrative Australia-US corridor.
“In terms of Singapore Airlines’ request for access to the Pacific route, the government has decided not to grant access at the present time,” Truss said at a news conference. “If access is negotiated in the future it will be limited and phased.”
“We would not envisage Singapore Airlines operating on the route for some years,” he said, adding the government was willing to “negotiate access to this route on a case-by-case basis but only when it is in the national interest”.
He said the decision to block Singapore Airlines would give Richard Branson’s Virgin Group the chance to develop its plans to compete on the route.
Truss said the Australian airline industry made a significant contribution to the economy. He said the government remained committed to open skies agreements, but only when they benefited the country.
“If there is to be a deal, we would expect there to be advantages also for Australia,” he added.
He said the government would continue to offer unlimited access for airlines to all Australian airports other than the four main hubs of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.
