South African Airways could lose it codeshare arrangement with Qantas on the Sydney- Johannesburg route and others, a year before the current collaboration ends, due to regulatory challenges that have made it difficult for the airlines to operate together.

The Australian reported Qantas was investigating alternative arrangements ahead of the end of the code sharing arrangement because passengers are able to book flights a year in advance.

The most likely of these is that it will continue to fly its own aircraft on the Sydney-Johannesburg route but will send its passengers from Perth, where there is a sizeable South African expat community, via Dubai with codeshare partner Emirates.

Perth is currently serviced six times a week by South African Airways. Both airlines codeshare and buy blocks of seats on each other’s flights. The two have been codesharing on the route since 2000.

Financially troubled SAA has previously indicated the Perth flight is only marginally profitable and it is not clear whether it would be viable without the codeshare.

The Australian said industry sources suggested that Qantas’s daily Sydney-Johannesburg route was likely to be viable outside of the codeshare, with feeder traffic from Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and New Zealand as well as from the Sydney market.

South African and Qantas were unhappy with an International Air Services Commission decision in September last year to extend their codeshare to December next year instead of a five year extension.

“In terms of what happens beyond that date, we’re reviewing our options to make sure we deliver the best outcome for Qantas customers,” Qantas said.

“We’re conscious of the regulatory hurdles on a potential extension, but there is nothing stopping us continuing to operate our own Sydney to Johannesburg service independent of this codeshare.”

The South African regulator has also expressed concerns about the route.

“In the commission’s view, the nature of the codeshare under that market scenario does not provide strong incentives to compete,” it said, citing the failure on the route of V Australia as a particular concern.