Qantas Codeshare Partnership With Hawaiian Airlines Approved

The United States Department of Transportation has approved the joint application of Qantas Airways and Hawaiian Airlines to conduct reciprocal codeshare operations indefinitely under 14 CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) Part 212.

The approval was granted on March 19, 2025, and filed on the same day. The authorisation will remain in effect while (i) Hawaiian and Qantas continue to hold the necessary underlying authority to operate the codeshare services at issue and (ii) the codeshare agreement providing for the codeshare operations remains in effect.

Under the arrangement, Qantas will display a Hawaiian HA flight code on Qantas-operated flights within Australia and between Australia and New Zealand in connection with services held out by Hawaiian between Australia/New Zealand and the United States.

Hawaiian Airlines will display the Qantas QF flight code flights operated by Hawaiian between points in the United States in connection with services held out by Qantas between Australia and the United States.

Point simply, neither airline will codeshare on flights between Australia and Hawaii, given they compete on this sector. Rather, it will allow Qantas passengers to book flights on Hawaiian Airlines to ports beyond Hawaii and Hawaiian Airlines passengers to book flights on Qantas beyond Sydney.

The approval contains certain conditions, including that the carrier selling the flight must accept responsibility for the entirety of the codeshare journey for all obligations established in its contract of carriage with the passenger; that the passenger liability of the operating carrier be unaffected; and that the operating carrier shall not permit the code of its US codesharing partner to be carried on any flight that enters, departs, or transits the airspace of any area where the Federal Aviation Administration has issued a flight prohibition.

The decision follows Alaska Airlines' recent acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines. As a result, Hawaiian Airlines will join the Oneworld alliance, of which Qantas is a foundation member.

The decision also comes after Hawaiian Airlines confirmed that it would end its longstanding partnership with Virgin Australia. Earlier this month, Hawaiian said the partnership would end on July 1, 2025.

You can read the full letter of authorisation here.