Jetstar Airways (JQ) has reiterated its commitment to Jetstar Pacific (BL) and dismissed erroneous claims that the Vietnam-based low-cost carrier will be absorbed as part of a proposed airline deal. BL is majority owned by the Vietnamese State Capital Investment Corp. (SCIC) and 27% owned by the Qantas Group (QF). JQ said the misleading claims stem from reports of a proposed ownership swap between SCIC and Vietnam Airlines (VN)—a swap QF has publicly said it supports. QF’s 27% stake would be unaffected by the deal.
Qantas (QF) CEO Alan Joyce is convinced the future of travel in Asia, the world's fastest-growing market, is just as much about premium airlines as LCCs. Joyce told a conference in Sydney last week that within two decades, 16% of the world's middle class would be in East Asia. ''We are convinced the future of Asia is not just about low-fares airlines travel,'' he said. ''Chinese visitors are pouring into Australia. And we know that Chinese travelers rate prestige brands and safety as among their top travel priorities.''
Domestic flights in Russia have decreased 10% over past decade in favor of international flights because achieving profitability on domestic routes is difficult, it was announced at the annual meeting of Russian Assn. of Air Transport Operators (AEVT). Even though the total number of Russian passengers has nearly doubled in the past five years, the country’s 834 flight connections are still small, with airlines linking to only 202 cities. In the last Soviet Union airline schedule in 1992, there were 4,780 connections joining 432 cities via airline routes.
