Fernandes new airline is no threat to Qantas
Speculation yesterday that Air Asia boss Tony Fernandes is planning to start a new regional airline to compete with Australian carrier Qantas appears well wide of the mark.
The reports, culled from a Malaysian newspaper report, indicated that the airline would be a super-premium full-service carrier to rival Qantas’ upcoming carrier RedQ in Asia.
A little more research into the start-up suggests that the new airline will be an executive jet service catering mainly to corporate travellers – and flying from Kuala Lumpur’s s old Subang airport.
Executive jet operator Caterham Jet Sdn Bhd, said to be owned by Tony Fernandes, his buddy Kamarudin Meranun and an American investor, will initially have about seven jets – each carrying up to 50 passengers – that will ply routes within 2-3 hours of KL.
Aviation analyst K. Ajith, speaking from Singapore, said that the whole idea of the recent MAS-AirAsia collaborative framework “was for MAS to rationalise its routes and focus on the premium segment”.
“It is also perplexing how everybody (MAS, Firefly, AirAsia, AirAsia X and the proposed Caterham Jet) can be part of a happy family, with Fernandes’ various stakes in them,” he added.
Ian Jarrett
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