Qantas To Restart SFO Flights After Regulatory Approval

Qantas will resume flights between Sydney and San Francisco after Australian authorities gave interim approval for an expanded codeshare arrangement with American Airlines.

Australia's national carrier said it would fly direct between the two cities from December 18 because American Airlines temporarily obtained permission to take over one of its daily services between either Sydney or Melbourne and Los Angeles.

Qantas has previously said it wanted to resume flights to San Francisco, which it cut in 2011 to focus on a new hub at Dallas-Fort Worth, but it needed clearance from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to broaden its partnership with the US carrier.

On Thursday, the ACCC gave interim approval for that change since it "is likely to lead to additional capacity on the Sydney to Los Angeles route and increased capacity and competition on the Sydney to San Francisco route".

"This is likely to result in benefits to passengers that wish to use these services," ACCC Commissioner Jill Walker added in a statement.

The interim regulatory clearance will come as a relief for Qantas which a week ago took a blow to its Asian expansion plans when Hong Kong authorities rejected an application from its discount carrier Jetstar Hong Kong to operate there.