ACCC reveals a plan to shield Virgin from Qantas dominance of the skies

ACCC Commissioner Stephen Ridgeway said the agreement would mean that Virgin Australia and Alliance Airlines would not compete with each other on the routes covered by the agreement.

More than half the routes include a Queensland location.

He said the ACCC’s preliminary view was that these arrangements were likely to result in a public benefit by assisting in the re-establishment of Virgin Australia’s national network of routes, thereby promoting competition in airline services.

“Our preliminary view is that any public detriment resulting from reduced competition between Alliance Airlines and Virgin Australia is likely to be limited, given Alliance Airlines’ limited number of scheduled regular passenger services.

“We consider…