19 December 2008

Bye-bye BA, hello MAS

SYDNEY - Australian carrier Qantas remains open to airline mergers, especially in Asia, after talks with British Airways failed, a source familiar with Qantas's plans yesterday.

Qantas and BA earlier called off talks for a merger, citing disagreement on key terms.

Qantas declined further comment, but BA said it could not agree to the Australian airline owning more than 50 percent of the merged entity.

The source told Reuters that Qantas was not in any active talks after the demise of the BA negotiations but saw potential benefits from merging with an Asian airline.

Earlier this week, Malaysia Airlines said it was in talks with a number of airlines, including Qantas, on possible partnerships amid the global economic downturn.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœThis ranges from joint ventures and code shares to interlining partnerships," said MAs managing director and CEO, Idris Jala.

MalaysiaÃ¢â¬â¢s finance minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak told local media that the government was agreeable to a cooperative agreement between Malaysia Airlines and Qantas Ã¢â¬Åâœif it leads to a win-win situationÃ¢â¬~.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœWe are nationalists and we are nationalistic, but we should not be xenophobic in the sense that we cannot look in terms of how foreigners can add value to the company and to the country,Ã¢â¬~ Najib said.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœPresent conditions in the world (tell) us to be creative and innovative.Ã¢â¬~