The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) is seeking public feedback on a joint venture first proposed in January between Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA). The proposed joint venture between the two would cover scheduling, pricing, sales and marketing, and other commercial areas and would extend to subsidiaries, SilkAir (Singapore), which is in the process of being integrated into SIA, as well as Air Japan and ANA Wings.
Singapore’s competition regulator said it received and accepted a joint application in early June and was now assessing whether it would prevent, restrict or distort competition within any market in Singapore. SIA and ANA said they overlap on eight air passenger transport routes between Japan and Singapore on a direct or one-stop basis, according to the regulator.
According to SIA and ANA, the proposed cooperation “is expected to result in significant consumer and economic benefits and efficiencies”. These include an increased number of itinerary options for travellers, potentially increased route frequencies or capacity, or the introduction of new services between Japan and Singapore.
If authorised, Singapore Airlines will become just the third airline joint venture partner for ANA and the first Asian airline. ANA began joint venture partnerships with United Airlines in 2011 and Lufthansa Group in 2012. Today, Singapore Airlines has joint ventures with Air New Zealand, Lufthansa Group and SAS. In addition, SIA has also applied to form a joint venture with Malaysia Airlines Berhad.
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