Qantas Airways chief executive Alan Joyce feels that the proposed alliance with Emirates will greatly benefit inbound tourism to Australia.
"Emirates - the biggest international airline in the world - will be marketing the Qantas domestic network to its global customer base," says Joyce.
Joyce made the comments in a speech to an Australian business group in Brisbane, located in Australia's Queensland state.
"This means people in the Middle East, in Europe, in the UK, in Asia will see Emirates advertisements encouraging them to visit places like Cairns and the Gold Coast - destinations that will become a de facto part of the Emirates network because of the Qantas partnership."
He adds that if the Qantas-Emirates alliance is approved by regulators, it will give Australians in secondary cities flights with two-stop connectivity to dozens of European cities.
"All of this remains subject to regulatory approval and while we take nothing for granted, we think the benefits to consumers and to tourism from this deal are very compelling."
On 6 September 2012, Qantas and Emirates announced an extensive partnership to collaborate on routes and frequent flyer benefits, shifting the Australian carrier's hub for European flights to Dubai from Singapore. The partnership will commence in April 2013 and run for 10 years.
Australia's flag carrier will also terminate its 17-year relationship with IAG unit British Airways, under which BA and Qantas co-operate on services between Australia and the UK.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
