The long rumored QF/EK tie up has finally been announced. LINK. QF is NOT leaving the alliance and will still partner with BA and other OW members. It is only seeking to move its joint business partnership from BA to EK. Key things to note: BA will be dropped from as the JBV partner in favor of EK (pending gov approval) SIN will be de-hubbed by QF and will be moved to DXB for onward flights into Europe or connection on EK to Europe, Middle East, Africa, and parts of Asia. QF will share T3 at DXB with EK, and will locate with EK at SYD, MEL and LHR. QF planned renovations to the SIN and HK lounges will continue. QF anticipates increased flying into Asia, however, flight schedules will be modified to allow for same day connections on partners. QF's FRA route will be dropped An interesting development in the Oneworld universe, and most likely not a good one. This is a blow to BA, IB, and AB as QF will no longer rely on them to feed traffic into Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. CX effected to a lesser extent, but QF already announced they'll drop codesharing on the CX FCO flight.
Just another sign of the gradual shift to middle east being hubs connecting all parts of the globe. What will this mean for the future of Oneworld? Where do Avios points go for Australia?
Middle East carriers are blessed with excellent geography for connecting Australia, Asia, Europe, and Africa. The government involvement with EY/EK/QR et al is helpful as well (though that's controversial and full of debate, I'm aware). Really not sure where I see this going for Oneworld. WanderingAramean has a good post outlining his thoughts, much of which I agree with. For AA and LA this doesn't really change much in the short term. The Americas are a unique market and QF needs AA and LA to move people in North and South America. I'm not quite sure if I follow what you mean about Avios points in Oz? As I mentioned on Twitter to your tweet, QF and BA are still OW partners, so the FF program reciprocity will continue. It's the joint business activity that will cease.
What would EK get out of it? Almost nothing. Not to mention they've gone on record multiple times saying they only seek alliance with specific airlines, not groups of airlines. Anything can happen, but I just don't I see that as realistic.
I wonder if BA will drop flights or seek to connect passengers in HKG/NRT on the route to SYD instead of SIN with QF shifting?
I guess i posted the question in the wrong thread; but does this mean eventually EK would be bookable via AA miles? (if QF/EK do a codeshare)
I doubt it. Generally speaking, AA miles cannot be used to book codeshare flights, you have to book directly with the operating carrier. There is one exception to this rule - Qantas codeshares on Jetstar are bookable with AA miles. While that might give some hope considering the new partnership with Emirates is with Qantas as well, I wouldn't be so confident. Jetstar is a subsidiary of Qantas (though not a OW affliate like other subsidiaries of OW carriers such as Comair, Dragonair, etc.) while Emirates would be an entirely separate carrier entirely. So while it remains to be seen, I'd certainly bet on "no."
At this stage, I don't think anyone who knows is saying, but I wonder if EK has any interest in an arrangement where EK operated QF coded flights could be booked on a Global Explorer fare? Same arrangement allowing AS flights to be booked as AA codes IIRC.
A couple of interesting posts with some inside reaction in the Traveling Better thread on this: #47 and #51.
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