Qantas halts take over plans of Alliance following regulatory opposition.

Qantas and Alliance Aviation Services Ltd Alliance have announced the termination of their May 2022 agreement for Qantas to fully acquire the Australian-based charter operator.

Qantas’ acquisition of Alliance was formally opposed by the competition regulator in April 2023. Both companies believe the acquisition would have created customer value without lessening competition in the highly competitive resources sector – particularly through the efficiencies created through a combined fleet of F100 aircraft. However, both companies acknowledge that there is no reasonable path forward for the deal at present.

Qantas will continue to serve the growing resources sector through its existing charter operations; it currently has around 27 per cent of the total charter market.

The Group will retain its shareholding of nearly 20 per cent of Alliance and will continue its long-term agreement that sees Alliance operate up to 30 E190s for the Qantas Group.

Qantas has agreed to exercise options over four additional aircraft under that agreement, which will bring the total number of E190s operated by Alliance for the Qantas Group to 26, with four options remaining. The additional aircraft are expected to join the Qantas fleet from April 2024.

Qantas Group Executive of Associated Airlines and Services John Gissing said: “Alliance is an important partner for the Qantas Group and the E190s have helped us open new routes across Australia. These four new aircraft will provide additional capacity and connectivity in the domestic market.”

Alliance Managing Director Scott McMillan said: “Despite the outcome of the transaction, we look forward to continuing our long-standing and productive relationship with Qantas.”   

Acquisition of Alliance would not lessen competition says Qantas

This week Australia's leading airline Qantas issued a statement that reaffirmed its view that its acquisition of Alliance Aviation Services Ltd would not lessen competition in Australia’s highly competitive charter segment.

Qantas currently owns just under 20 per cent of Alliance and is its biggest customer, wet leasing up to 18 Embraer aircraft that Alliance operates on the national carrier’s behalf on a number of routes.

In May, Qantas announced it had reached an agreement to fully acquire Alliance, enabling it to better serve the growing resources sector with a combined fleet. That agreement includes a condition for competition clearance.

Alliance represents around two per cent of the total Australian aviation industry and supplies about 30 per cent of the charter services, with the remainder split between Qantas (around 23 per cent), Virgin Australia (around 22 per cent) and a number of other operators.

Qantas has met with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and provided a detailed submission on the competitive nature of the charter services.

Since Qantas announced its planned acquisition of Alliance, Rex announced its acquisition of charter operator National Jet Express from Cobham Aviation, receiving ACCC clearance 11 days later, and Virgin Australia has been clear about its acquisition of new aircraft to expand its own resources flying. Several other airlines and aviation businesses also service the charter sector.

Alliance Airlines focuses on fuel efficiency with expanded relationship with GE Digital Aviation Software

Australian air carrier, Alliance Airlines has chosen Fuel Insight™ from GE Digital to focus efforts on saving fuel burn with fast access to flight data. The airline is building on its existing installation of GE Digital’s Safety Insight™ solution and therefore will be able to unlock the value of the data they gather from a single software platform.

Alliance Airlines has a fleet of 58 Fokker and Embraer aircraft with an additional 17 aircraft scheduled to join the fleet in 2022, providing charter, fly-in-fly-out, and wet-lease services across Australia.

Fuel Insight works by understanding real data from the aircraft and airline which can be used to help cost and emissions reduction. It is designed to utilize GE Digital’s powerful aviation data and analytics platform to merge flight data with flight plans and uncover valuable insight to help increase aircraft fuel efficiency and reduce waste. Fuel Insight is designed to give operators actionable intelligence at multiple levels allowing analysts to drill down from macro trends to understand issues on a per-flight level.

“We chose GE Digital’s Fuel Insight solution to help increase our fuel efficiency, lower costs, and reduce carbon emissions,” said Stewart Tully, Chief Operating Officer for Alliance Airlines. “GE is a trusted partner with the tools and services to help us maximize our investment. The specialized skills of their team of experts and data scientists allow us to unlock the value of the data we already had and make a significant impact on our business.”

Alliance Airlines is Australasia’s leading provider of contract, charter, wet lease and allied aviation services. The Company currently employs in excess of 840 committed and experienced personnel, operating out of eight bases located throughout Australia. The airline’s core principles include safety, reliability, on-time performance and financial sustainability. The Company has operational bases in Brisbane, Townsville, Cairns, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Rockhampton and Darwin. Alliance operates a fleet of 58 aircraft, comprised of Fokker 50, Fokker 70, Fokker 100 and E190 with a 17 further Embraer E-190 aircraft planned to enter service during 2022.

Fuel Insight is designed to provide fuel saving dashboards that include real-time data for analysis. The team at Alliance Airlines is able to quickly identify trends and issues from data that they did not have access to before. It will also reduce the number of resources to actually do the analysis because of the automated dashboards and will speed the time to results.

“We are looking forward to expanding our long-term partnership with Alliance Airlines and working to ensure we harness the wealth of insights that come from flight data to lower the airline’s CO2 footprint while raising flight efficiency,” said Andrew Coleman, General Manager of GE Digital’s Aviation Software business. “Alliance is on a full climb and solutions like Fuel Insight and Safety Insight can help manage that growth and meet their business goals. We are proud to stand as Alliance Airlines’ wing mate.”

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Qantas has officially added Dili, Timor-Leste to its route map this week with new regular service from Darwin.

Qantas has officially added Dili to its route map this week with the first of the airline’s regular passenger flights taking off from Darwin, strengthening the ties between Australia and Timor-Leste.

Three return flights will operate each week with the dual-class E190 aircraft, ramping up to five weekly return flights from July, boosting business, tourism and freight connections.

The E190 aircraft operate on Qantas’ network as part of an agreement with Alliance Airlines. The aircraft’s size, range and economics have opened up a number of routes from Darwin that wouldn’t be viable with larger aircraft.

Darwin-Dili is the national carrier’s first new ongoing international route from Darwin since 2008 and Qantas’ first international E190 route.

QantasLink Chief Operating Officer Petrea Bradford, who is in Darwin to travel on the inaugural flight, said that the national carrier’s new service would help strengthen the deep connection between Australia and Timor-Leste.

"We’re excited to be officially adding Dili to our route map today and helping to build the incredibly important links between Australia and one of our closest neighbours," Ms Bradford said.  "After two years of closed borders, this new route is a key part of Qantas’ focus on rebuilding connectivity in the region for businesses, families and freight. Travellers from Timor-Leste will also be able to seamlessly transfer through Darwin to the Qantas Group’s extensive domestic and international network. Dili is just over an hour’s flight from Darwin and is a great destination for the adventurous traveller, with incredible natural beauty, unique cultural experiences and great coffee and cuisine. We look forward to working to promote Timor-Leste and all it has to offer to millions of our frequent flyers."

During COVID, Qantas temporarily operated weekly flights between Darwin and Dili in partnership with the Australian Government to maintain critical passenger and freight links while international borders were closed.

The new ongoing passenger route follows the recently announced E190 base in Darwin that will create more than 90 new local aviation jobs and service key QantasLink routes from the NT capital across Australia. The Darwin-Dili flights follow two new domestic routes from Darwin taking off this week to Cairns and Townsville.

The Qantas Group operates 18 routes from Darwin, Alice Springs and Uluru, and non-stop options from Darwin to eight domestic destinations.

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QantasLink starts Darwin-Canberra flights on Embraer E190 regional jets

Travellers in the Northern Territory can now take advantage of a direct connection to the Australian Capital Territory with QantasLink’s new Darwin-Canberra flights which started on Monday.

The first flight connecting the two cities in nine years took off from Darwin on Monday and was sent on its way with celebrations for customers at the departure gate.

QantasLink will offer up to five weekly return flights operated by the Embraer E190 regional jet aircraft, delivering almost 1,000 seats on the route each week.

The E190 aircraft type made its debut on the QantasLink network last month as part of the airline’s deal with Alliance Airlines. With its size, range and economics, the 94-seat jet has opened up a number of new routes that wouldn’t have been viable with Qantas’ existing fleet.

QantasLink CEO John Gissing said the response from customers had already exceeded expectations.

“We’ve seen strong demand from travellers in both Darwin and Canberra since the route first went on sale last month,” said Mr Gissing.

“With no other airline currently operating on the route, the direct flights will save business and leisure travellers more than two hours travel time on a round trip instead of flying via other capital cities.

Qantas and Alliance Airlines agree on capacity deal

Deal with Alliance Airlines to provide capacity using recently acquired Embraer E190s aircraft from mid-2021.

The E190 offers right range and size to better service routes linking regional centres with smaller capital cities.

Flexibility to increase or decrease capacity provided by Alliance depending on market conditions.

Opportunity for Qantas Group crew to fly E190s with Alliance while international markets recover.

A new deal with Alliance Airlines will help the Qantas Group meet an expected surge in local tourism demand once the country moves beyond sudden COVID-related border closures.

Alliance will provide the QantasLink network with flexible capacity using its recently acquired Embraer E190 aircraft – a 94 seat jet with a five-hour range that is well suited to linking regional centres with smaller capital cities.

Initial routes that Alliance will fly are expected to include Adelaide–Alice Springs, Darwin–Alice Springs and Darwin–Adelaide. Passengers can expect an increase in frequency made possible by the size, range and economics of the E190 compared to the Boeing 737s that are currently used on these routes; the 737s will be redeployed elsewhere in Australia as part an ongoing ‘right aircraft, right route’ approach to the Group’s network.

Qantas has signed a three year deal with Alliance to access three E190s based in Darwin and Adelaide. The timing will depend on the rate of recovery in travel demand but is currently expected to start in June 2021, once the vast majority of the Qantas Domestic flying has returned to pre-COVID levels.

Australia's Alliance Airlines to start scheduled service flights between Brisbane and Moranbah

The Australian airline Alliance has recently confirmed it will start a new scheduled serviced between Brisbane and Moranbah from 17 August 2020.

The daily service will be operated exclusively by Alliance’s fleet of 80-seat Fokker 70 jets, the new services will offer the only scheduled jet flights into Moranbah and the fastest flight time between Brisbane and Moranbah.

Flights have been timed to meet the needs of the resources industry and the local community, with further flights to be added in the future if demand warrants.   “We believe the speed, comfort and reliability of the Fokker 70 jet will make Alliance an attractive option for residents and resource workers travelling between Brisbane and Moranbah”, Alliance CEO Lee Schofield said.

“The fact we are introducing competition to this important route will also ensure the whole region benefits from additional capacity and lower fares”.

"We would like to acknowledge BMA as the operators of Moranbah Airport for their role in the completion of the necessary safety approvals and scheduling, as well as the Isaac Regional Council for their warm welcome to the region,’’ Schofield said.

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Australia's all Fokker airline to buy 14 second hand Embraer E190 aircraft

Alliance Airlines, arguably Australia’s premium air charter operator providing dedicated contract, charter and aviation services supporting the resource, tourism and MICE industries as well as a range of scheduled services is to take 14 Embraer aircraft.

The airline previously enjoyed an all Fokker fleet, being one of the largest operators of the F100 aircraft, has done a deal for 14 Embraer E190 twin jets for an estimated AU$111 million.

According to a report in The Australian newspaper,  the airline raised the funds for the deal with a share purchase plan back in June. The airline has been able to take advantage of lower prices because of the ongoing coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. 

Australia's Sunshine Coast gets new air service to Cairns

Early this month, the small Sunshine Coast Airport celebrated the launch of a new direct flight to Cairns from Alliance Airlines.

The new service operates three times a week and is designed to provide a key connection between two of Queensland’s most highly valued and popular tourist locations as well as facilitating easier connections for locals and be a boost for local businesses. Alliance will be operating Fokker 100s on the route.

Sunshine Coast Airport CEO Andrew Brodie welcomed the route:  “It’s a route that’s been long anticipated by local people and the strong passenger loads for the first flight certainly confirmed that.  - This service will also spare locals from making the long drive south to Brisbane to fly north, and will allow us to test the appetite for other regional routes on their wish list.

It’s anticipated this service will facilitate around 40,000 passengers every year and inject $2.8 million of tourism spend into our region, undoubtedly some welcome relief for local operators.” Mr Brodie added.