Two Airlines Policy

The Two Airlines Policy (or Two Airlines Agreement) was a de facto Fact|date=March 2008 and de jure Fact|date=March 2008policy of Australian Federal Governments from the late 1940s to the 1990s. The Two Airlines Policy was established in 1952 by the Menzies Government. [ [http://www.qantas.com.au/regions/dyn/au/publicaffairs/details?ArticleID=2003/sep03/2963 "Sir Reg Ansett Memorial Lecture, 2003", "which discusses Australian aviation history] ] The policy took effect when Ansett merged with the failing ANA airline in 1957, resulting in it being the only competitor for the government-owned TAA. While smaller regional airlines were free to operate flights between regional airports and between cities and regional centres, the policy allowed only two airlines to operate flights between major cities in AustraliaFact|date=March 2008.

Beginnings

The Chifley Labour government established Trans Australia Airlines in 1947Fact|date=March 2008, and it was initially intended to be a monopoly national carrier, subsuming all the routes flown by Australian National AirwaysFact|date=March 2008. This was successfully challenged in a High Court caseFact|date=March 2008.

The "Duopoly"

Early in the federal Liberal government of Sir Robert Menzies, Australian National Airways had been taken over by Sir Reg Ansett's AnsettFact|date=March 2008. Subsequent governments continued to allow TAA and Ansett to hold a duopoly over domestic flights in Australia for almost four decades until the deregulation of the industry Fact|date=March 2008.

De Facto "status quo ante"

At present, only two airlines - Virgin Blue and Qantas (which absorbed TAA in 1992) Fact|date=March 2008 - fly between major cities in Australia. Fact|date=March 2008

See also

* Compass Airlines
* Impulse Airlines

References