Code-share agreements come in several types:
The “Seat block” is a means of allocating seats where the aircraft’s capacity is shared between the operating airline (which actually operates the flight) and the marketing airline, which only sells seats under the code-share agreement.
The marketing airline buys the seats from the operating airline. Each therefore has its own block of seats allocated and manages and sells these by itself.

A “Free-flow” agreement involves a seat allocation principle in which the aircraft’s capacity is not shared out numerically. The operating airline (which operates the flight) manages all the seats in its inventory, while the marketing airline sells a notional flight with its own reservation classes, and then assigns these on the basis of the operating airline’s inventory as and when required.
This type of agreement, which is particularly appropriate in the present case, has been selected to launch the cooperation between Air France and Qantas. It offers the advantage of serving routes that are currently relatively thin, but which have high growth potential, at minimal cost. It is a system that enables an airline to adjust with all necessary flexibility and in real time to expanding demand on this route.