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Authorising agreements between airlines proposing to operate flights to and from New Zealand under cooperation agreements.
Airline cooperation agreements are a common feature of international aviation but require authorisation as they might otherwise breach competition law, and to ensure the benefits to the public outweigh the risk of lessening competition. Airlines cooperation agreements may include aspects of pricing, scheduling and service delivery in a particular market.
The Civil Aviation Act 2023 allows for authorisation of cooperation agreements, that involve New Zealand destinations. An agreement, once authorised by the Minister, enables airlines to cooperate on various aspects of their operations without breaching competition laws, including cooperating on pricing, scheduling and service delivery.
The Ministry assesses applications received and provides advice to the Minister. The decision to grant an authorisation is at the discretion of the Minister.
Details of airline cooperation agreements currently authorised are outlined on this page. Agreements authorised under the Civil Aviation Act 1990 and in effect before 5 April 2025 are treated as an authorisation under the Civil Aviation Act 2023.
On 18 July 2025, Air New Zealand and Air China lodged a properly completed application seeking reauthorisation of their strategic alliance agreement.
27 March 2026:
Final decision
On 23 March 2026, the Acting Minister of Transport authorised Air New Zealand and Air China to continue to implement their strategic alliance agreement. This was first authorised in 2015 and was due to expire on the 31st of March 2026.
The authorisation is for five years through to 31 March 2031 and is not subject to any conditions.
The public notice of the decision is available below.
For more information on this authorisation please see the application, submission, economic analysis and decision documents below.
For any queries please contact us at alliances@transport.govt.nz.
| NZ-CA Public notice of final decision - 27 March 2026 [PDF, 139 KB] | Proactive release OC251143 Advice on the final authorisation of two airline alliance agreements [PDF, 943 KB] |
| NZ-CA Public notice of proposed decision - 1 December 2025 [PDF, 165 KB] | Proactive release OC250892 Advice on the proposed decision to authorise two airline cooperation agreements [PDF, 1.3 MB] |
Proactive release: Economic analysis of the application Motu Final Report Air NZ Air China Authorisation 2025 [PDF, 3.1 MB] |
| NZ-CA Public version - Alliance reauthorisation application (updated) - 25 July 2025 [PDF, 1.5 MB] |
On 18 July 2025, Qantas Airways Limited and American Airlines Inc lodged a properly completed application seeking reauthorisation of their joint business agreement.
27 March 2026:
Final decision
On 23 March 2026, the Acting Minister of Transport authorised Qantas and American Airlines to continue to implement their joint business agreement. This was first authorised in 2011 and was due to expire on the 31st of March 2026.
The authorisation is for five years through to 31 March 2031 and is not subject to any conditions.
The public notice of the decision is available below.
For more information on this authorisation please see the application, submission, economic analysis and decision documents below.
For any queries please contact us at alliances@transport.govt.nz.
| QF-AA Public notice of final decision - 27 March 2026 [PDF, 158 KB] | Proactive release OC251143 Advice on the final authorisation of two airline alliance agreements [PDF, 943 KB] |
| QF-AA Public notice of proposed decision - 1 December 2025 [PDF, 144 KB] | Proactive release OC250892 Advice on the proposed decision to authorise two airline cooperation agreements [PDF, 1.3 MB] |
Proactive release: Economic analysis of the application Motu Report Qantas American Authorisation 2025 [PDF, 7.6 MB] |
| QF-AA Public version - Authorisation Application -18 July 2025 [PDF, 5.7 MB] | QF-AA Public version - Non-confidential Annexures - 18 July 2025 [PDF, 23 MB] |
| NZ Airports submission - QF-AA proposed decision - 22 December 2025 [PDF, 137 KB] |
This section has all of the information regarding the Qantas and American Airlines joint business agreement
Authorisation expires 31 March 2026 (extended from 14 November 2025)
This section has all of the information for the Air New Zealand and Air China strategic alliance agreement.
Authorisation expires 31 March 2026
This section has all of the information for the Qantas and Emirates master coordination agreement.
Authorisation expires 31 March 2028
This section has all of the information for the Air New Zealand and United Airlines side agreement.
This section has all of the information for the Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines strategic alliance agreement.
This section has all of the information for the Air New Zealand and Virgin Australia codeshare agreement.
This section has all of the information for the Air New Zealand and Cathay Pacific North Asia alliance agreement
This section has all of the information for the British Airways, Qatar Airways and Iberia Airlines joint business agreement.
If you would like to discuss any aspect of authorisation of airline cooperation agreements, please contact us here alliances@transport.govt.nz.