On 12 April 2006, Air New Zealand and Qantas announced that they had signed a code-share agreement for their trans-Tasman routes and would file for authorisation from the New Zealand Ministry of Transport and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. The airlines maintained that they were making losses on Tasman routes due to too many empty seats, and that a codeshare would return the routes to profitability. Critics, particularly Wellington International Airport, Christchurch Airport and Melbourne Airport, argued that the codeshare flights would lead to reduced passenger choice and higher airfares, and that cities such as Auckland and Sydney would benefit immensely through economic activity services would bring.