Origin Pacific, New Zealand's number two domestic airline, has complained to the competition authority that Air New Zealand (ANZ) subsidiary Air Nelson is launching and dumping capacity on routes that Origin first announced.
The dispute centres on the Hamilton-Christchurch route, which no airline flew non-stop before now. Origin announced plans to launch non-stops, followed shortly by ANZ's announcement that Air Nelson would do the same using larger aircraft. That forced Origin to withdraw.
ANZ says it had been planning the route for months and the fact that its announcement came immediately after that of Origin was a coincidence. Origin counters that ANZ is trying to thwart its expansion, actions that represent market abuse by a dominant, government-owned airline.
The New Zealand Commerce Com-mission has not commented on the merits of Origin's complaint, but the timing is awkward for ANZ. It is asking the same commission to approve its alliance with Qantas on the grounds that public benefits mitigate its anti-competitive effects. As part of that submission, ANZ has assured the commission that it would not abuse the dominance its proposed alliance with Qantas would create.
Source: Airline Business
