Qantas open to merger talk
A Sydney Morning Herald Report says that Qantas is willing to discuss merging with another airline and join the wave of consolidation gripping the United States and European aviation sectors.
Almost a year after the failed takeover attempt by a Macquarie Bank-led consortium, Qantas’ chief financial officer, Peter Gregg, said the company was open to merger talks.
“We keep saying we are interested and will keep looking. The rest of the world will keep consolidating because the industry needs to rationalise,” he said.
“Whether this brings anybody else that might be interested – we will keep a lookout for that. Like in any relationship, both parties need to be interested.”
Singapore Airlines has long been considered the perfect partner, while it has even been rumoured that Qantas could form a marriage with American Airlines.
But Mr Gregg said Qantas had not resurrected any merger talks with the Singaporeans.
US carriers Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines are the latest to pursue a merger, in a deal that is expected to unleash more consolidation as carriers around the world battle rising oil prices.
Mr Gregg’s comments came as Qantas said it would raise domestic fares by about 3.5 per cent across all classes of flights on Qantas and QantasLink from May 9, while the price of international tickets would increase by 3 per cent.
Qantas has also suspended indefinitely the buying back of its shares, which has returned more than A$500 million (NZ$600 million) to shareholders since September.
It had decided to adopt a conservative approach while it gauged the likely outlook for the aviation industry, including fuel prices, and credit markets, Mr Gregg said.
“There is a lot of uncertainty in the industry at the moment and we want to understand where it all leads to rather than just return capital to shareholders.
“You can’t say [oil prices] won’t go higher.”
Qantas has fuel-hedged at about US$76 a barrel till June 30 – about a 40 per cent discount to the current oil price – while 34 per cent of its jet fuel needs for 2008-09 are hedged at US$90 a barrel.
The airline said that “if high fuel prices persist beyond this point it would be of increasing concern”.
Oil prices hit a record of almost US$120 a barrel this week after a strike that closed an important pipeline in Britain and renewed violence in resource-rich Nigeria.
A Report by The Mole from The Sydney Morning Herald
John Alwyn-Jones
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Qatar Airways offers flexible payment options for European travellers
Airlines suspend Madagascar services following unrest and army revolt
Digital Travel Reporter of the Mirror totally seduced by HotelPlanner AI Travel Agent
Phocuswright reveals the world's largest travel markets in volume in 2025
Strike action set to cause travel chaos at Brussels airports