Tues "Business Times" (Singapore)
Qantas has no licence to run budget airline here
But Cheow Tong says key term is simple: it must be majority ownedby S'poreans
By DONALD URQUHART
(SINGAPORE) Qantas has no existing licence to operate a low cost carrier out of Singapore, contrary to last week's Australian media reports, transport minister Yeo Cheow Tong said yesterday.
Fasten your seatbelts: Valuair is among three budget airlines awaiting an operator's licence. It is set to fly in May
'No, they don't have the licence at the present moment,' Mr Yeo said in reference to a report in Melbourne's Herald-Sun on Friday, that Qantas had been granted a licence to operate a discount airline from Singapore.
The report indicated the licence had been awarded more than 10 years ago during negotiations between the two countries on access to Australian airports.
'But the requirement for setting up an airline in Singapore is a very simple one,' Mr Yeo added, noting that the key stipulation is that it be majority owned by Singaporeans.
The report said Australia's flag carrier was considering partnering Malaysia's AirAsia to form a low-cost airline based in Singapore, a move the report also described as a back-up plan for Qantas if regulators blocked the carrier's proposed tie-up with Air New Zealand.
AirAsia has since confirmed Qantas is among the carriers it is in talks with as it seeks to expand its regional presence.
The low-cost carrier has applied for an air operator's licence (AOL) from the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, along with Singapore-based budget start-ups Valuair and Singapore Airlines' Tiger Airways.
Mr Yeo pledged to try to expedite the processing of the AOL applications, which normally take between 6-9 months, but cautioned 'we do have manpower constraints because the review has to be done by people who are trained for the job.
'The processing of AOL applications is something that is a well-established process worldwide,' entailing specific procedures and processes that must be adhered to.
'Ensuring that the whole process is done properly will take normally between 6 and 9 months by most of the air authorities and we're no different,' Mr Yeo said.
On the government's recent announcement that it would proceed with the construction of a new budget airline terminal at Changi Airport if the low cost carriers wanted one, Mr Yeo confirmed talks were ongoing.
'We are still in discussion with Tiger Airways, they are the only ones who have told us they are interested so far and we are going through the details with them and once they are satisfied that it meets their needs and they sign off on the bottom line, then we will proceed with the construction.
'We don't want to do something nobody wants,' he added.
Mr Yeo noted that one interested budget carrier was all the government needed to give the go-ahead for construction, 'and it will be sized to the needs of the particular airline'.
'So, if it is Tiger and they tell us they plan to carry so many passengers a year then we will size it accordingly,' he said.
Like Changi's existing terminals and the upcoming T3, airlines will not directly bear the cost of the construction as it is an investment by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, but the carriers will pay for the usage of it, he said.
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