I have a couple of questions about passengers on via routes. For context: I am running an Australian-based airline in Junkers (SEA Airlines).
As part of the Oceania Open Skies Agreement, I understand that as an Australian airline I can operate routes within New Zealand. Although the real-life OOSA also allows Australian airlines to operate 5th Freedom international flights from New Zealand to a third country (e.g. SYD-AKL-LAX, with the ability for AU pax to book SYD-LAX or SYD-AKL, as well as NZ pax to join the flight in AKL on the AKL-LAX leg), my understanding is that this is not possible in AirlineSim, due to the difficulties of making this work in the ORS. Is this correct?
Related to the above question: If my Australian-based airline scheduled an AKL-RAR-LAX via route (i.e. single flight number), would Auckland passengers be able to continue on to LAX?
AKL-RAR is technically a domestic route within New Zealand, so there’s no issues getting pax from AKL to RAR. Will all AKL pax have to disembark at RAR, though, with no ability to book onwards to LAX?
I never had an airline down under, but you can check it. With “Commercial->Route Evaluation” you can see the boarding rights for PAX.
SYD-AKL-LAX -> There they can book SYD-AKL and SYD-LAX. I do not know if this is, because the ORS make strange things, because “normal” via flights and cargo does work with the ORS. I think it is more an balancing thing…
AKL-RAR-LAX -> There should be only bookings between AKL-RAR.
So I believe 5th freedoms are not possible due to a simplification of a complex issue (traffic rights). Note a simplification may of been done by accident, lack of for thought, or on purpose to reduce complex calculations and therefore server load.
From what I remember the simplification that exists can allow 5th freedom (ie. AUS registered operate NZ-US) however it would then ALSO allow a US airline domestic and 5th freedoms in NZ and AUS. So the more realistic of those two options is not to allow 5th freedoms.
In AS you can operate any flight you want. However the ORS will not allow bookings on flights / routes you do not have rights for. You do not have, as an AUS carrier, rights from NZ to a 3rd country. Therefore you will not get passengers booking AKL-LAX unless its via Australia. It doesn’t matter if its direct AKL-LAX, AKL-RAR-LAX, AKL-SFO-LAX or any other combination that doesn’t go to an Australian airport
Simply put, you don’t have the rights to under the agreement.
Think of the EU Agreement. as an EU airline you can operate domestics within the EU, but can only operate intercontinentals from your home country. Example - I have a BRU-based airline (I don’t, but for example I do), and can operate BRU-AMS, and even AMS-TXL, but cannot operate AMS-JFK as intercontinentals are only from my home country. In AS, the EU and OOSA work the same way, so flights to non-agreement destinations can only be operated to-from Australia in your case. You can do SYD-AKL-LAX (under 1 flight number), and can book pax from SYD-AKL, SYD-LAX but not AKL-LAX as you don’t have the traffic rights to transport pax from a second country to a non-treaty signee. Additionally, it’s really not worth it in this case if the only pax on the LAX leg would be from Sydney if the demand on the SYD-AKL segment is not fully dealt with (meaning empty flights on some airlines after full booking cycles - this takes literal months to happen especially on such a high demand route.) Otherwise that segment would go pretty empty.
See diagram below for a more concise explanation.
In your case, australia is green, NZ is dark grey, and LAX is the white-ish one.
for your RAR example (AKL-RAR-LAX through), you can only book pax on AKL-RAR, you cannot book AKL-LAX or RAR-LAX. The RAR-LAX leg simply put would get no bookings because you do not have those rights in Airlinesim.
Thanks, everyone for your responses. This certainly clarifies that, in AirlineSim at least, Australian airlines cannot transport New Zealand passengers from New Zealand ports eastward to the Americas or Pacific.
My understanding, though, is that in real life, the Oceania Open Skies agreement does actually allow this. In this way, it is different to the EU Open Skies agreement. Specifically, as long as an Australian airline’s flight originates in Australia, it can stop in New Zealand, drop off AND pick up passengers, then continue to the final destination (e.g. SYD-AKL-LAX). The same is true of New Zealand airlines travelling westwards via Australia (e.g. AKL-SYD-SIN).
