Qantas still eyeing Vietnam LCC
SYDNEY: Qantas seems likely to make the next move in Asia’s increasingly competitive battle of the budget airlines.
With Singapore’s Tiger Airways poised to launch flights to Perth, Qantas continues to run an eye over the operations of Vietnam’s Pacific Airlines, which is reinventing itself as a low cost carrier.
Pacific is majority owned by Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance, which wants to sell 30 per cent to a foreign airline, and Qantas is thought to be the front runner to acquire a stake.
Pacific operates domestic flights between Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Da Nang and from Ho Chi Minh City to Taipei and Kaohsiung.
It would need to add to its fleet of two aircraft if it was to become a true competitor to LCCs like Asia Asia and Tiger.
Qantas chief financial officer Peter Gregg told media in Singapore last week that the Australian airline was no longer interested in taking a stake in troubled Indonesia budget carrier, Adam Air.
Adam Air grounded six Boeing 737-300 planes – one third of its fleet – for safety inspections after one of its aircraft was damaged during a hard landing last week.
On January 1 an Adam Air Boeing 737-400 with 102 people onboard disappeared from radar screens during a domestic flight from Surabaya to Manado in the north of Sulawesi island.
No bodies have been found from the plane, although some debris has been recovered from the sea.
Qantas said recently any suggestion it was contemplating cutting its investment in Jetstar Asia were wrong.
Qantas remained fully committed to its investment in the airline, said Gregg.
“Jetstar Asia is, and will continue to be, an important part of the Qantas Group’s diversification strategy.
“It is ridiculous to equate a number of operational cancellations – which are in the process of being resolved – and a claim about pilot shortages with concerns over the airline’s future, as some media reports have done.
“Unfortunately for its competitors, Jetstar Asia will continue to operate across its existing network and Qantas remains fully committed to the airline,” Gregg added.
Ian Jarrett
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