Fri "Dow Jones"
Qantas May Dump Australian Airlines
SYDNEY (Dow Jones)--Australia's Qantas Airways Ltd. (QAN.AU) is expected to announce plans to ditch loss-making international leisure carrier Australian Airlines later this year as it prepares to begin flying low-cost offshoot Jetstar on international routes in early 2007, The Australian Financial Review reports Friday.
Without citing sources, the newspaper says it understands the plans involve keeping Australian Airlines' operations but absorbing them into either Qantas's or Jetstar's international operations and ultimately killing the Australian Airlines brand.
The announcement might come when Qantas reveals the first routes to be flown by Jetstar in May, but it is believed to be waiting for a clearer picture of the impact of the federal government's industrial relations overhaul before making a decision, the report says.
-By Sydney bureau; 61-2-8235-2950;
[email protected]
-Edited by Paul Dekkers
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