Qantas and Emirates are extending a partnership for a further five years with an option to renew for another five years beyond that.
The new agreement means passengers of both airlines will have access to a joint network, and millions of ‘reward seats’ to travel across Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the UK.
The airlines have existing approvals from regulators to operate a joint business until March 2023.
More than 13 million passengers have travelled on the joint network since 2013.
Qantas and Emirates will seek re-authorisation from relevant regulators, including the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, to continue the core elements of the partnership including co-ordination of pricing, schedules, sales and tourism marketing on approved routes until 2028.
Together, both airlines are making millions of reward seats available for frequent flyers to access more than 100 destinations to using their Qantas Points or Skywards Miles, which many have been stockpiling during the pandemic.
For Emirates passnegers, the deal provides access to more than 55 Australian destinations that Emirates does not fly to, and Qantas customers are able to fly on Emirates to Dubai and access over 50 cities in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, that Qantas does not fly to.
The partnership will continue to deliver “financial upside” for both airlines as they recover from the impact that Covid-19 has had on their respective businesses.
The agreement was signed by Emirates president Tim Clark and Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce at the Iata agm in Boston.
Sir Tim said: “The extension of our partnership with Qantas is testament to its success. It also reflects our commitment to ensure customers travelling to and from Australia, a market which we have served for 25 years, continue to have the best connections and frequent flyer benefits. Despite the challenges of the past 18 months, today’s announcement reinforces that Emirates is here for the long-haul.
“Our partnership seamlessly connects travellers to over one hundred destinations globally on our joint network, and offers a coordinated premium experience such as access to points and lounges. As borders re-open, we look forward to restoring our Australian flight schedules including our popular A380 services, and to welcoming customers to experience our best-in-class partnership for many more years to come.”
Joyce said: “This marks the continuation of one of the most significant bilateral partnerships in aviation. We called it ‘seismic’ when it launched in 2013 and it has been, especially in terms of what it’s meant for over 13 million people who have travelled on flights that form part of the deal.
“The premise of our partnership with Emirates has always been that no airline can fly everywhere but combined we can fly to most of the places our joint customers want to travel to. And that we treat each other’s customers as our own.
“We know the international aviation market will take years to fully recover so close collaboration between airline partners is going to be more important than ever.”