Qantas Airways Ltd and Emirates are extending their high-flying partnership until 2028. This update comes after the ACCC (Australian Competition & Consumer Commission) gave the green light on August 17th for the airlines, along with their associated entities like Jetstar, to keep coordinating their flights.

These networks cover routes between Australia and the UK/Europe, New Zealand, Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.

“We think this continual coordination will benefit travellers by facilitating connectivity between a wide range of destinations as well as optimising earning and redemption opportunities from their respective loyalty rewards programs,” ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey said.

“Passengers travelling on routes where Qantas and Emirates provide overlapping services will have greater choice of flight times and travel options.”

A special provision concerns the Sydney to Christchurch route. As Air New Zealand is the only other airline operating it, the ACCC is afraid that this could be a competition issue, and have granted authorisation with the "condition that Qantas and Emirates must provide regular updates on passenger revenue and operating costs to enable ACCC to monitor competition on this route over the next five years,” Anna Brakey said.