A lot of thought there Ex_one - but to suggest that Ansett was intentionally killed off is taking the conspiracy theory too far.. .. .Ansett was rotten to the core, debt-riddled, and quite simply required an enormous cash injection (for the airline operation to continue) that would not have guaranteed a return on the money.. .That Ansett was in a severely financially debilitated position, has been public knowledge, and regularly discussed HERE on PPRuNe for years. . .It is not a recent happening, and preceded Air New Zealand's acquisition of AN.. .. .Sir Richard Branson IS an astute entrepeneur - he has also been a lucky one, thanks to Brett Godfrey's insight (and access to SRB's $$$'s) that allowed him to develop Virgin Blue.. .. .Singapore Airlines did have the opportunity to invest in Ansett, but obviously scrutinised the accountants' books a lot more closely than Air N.Z. did. My guess is that Eddington was able to re-arrange the figures to make Ansett's first "profit" for eons appear to make Ansett look as though it had turned the corner - then Rod took off as fast as he could (to B.A.), before the whole kaboodle started crumbling.. .. .The Australian domestic airline scene is extremely fluid at the moment. Personally I believe there IS room for another operator to compete for the middle spectrum of the market, where they aren't involved in cut-throat, cheap fares.. .. .Time will tell.