Qantas and American Airlines have decided not to fight a decision by the US Department of Transportation to reject an expanded alliance on trans-Pacific routes.
The airlines will withdraw its bid for further anti-trust immunity, Qantas said Tuesday.
Qantas and American had asked the DOT for more time to respond but the agency denied the request.
"Qantas and American Airlines will now separately assess their positions before deciding on next steps. Both carriers are committed to finding ways to work together more closely to deliver benefits to customers that neither could offer alone," Qantas said.
"Without antitrust approval, Qantas and American Airlines will be severely limited in their ability to work together to grow on the trans-Pacific routes."
American Airlines’ spokesperson Matt Miller has earlier said the airline planned to file an objection.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) had already given approval to the alliance as had regulators in New Zealand.
Qantas called the DOT decision ‘unprecedented’ as the two carriers had already shown benefits to customers by working closer together.
The US DOT had argued there was a ‘high risk of competitive harm’ by approving it as the combined alliance would have about 60% of seat capacity on all routes between the US and Australia.
