SIA shooting off at the mouth, and bleating again. They will be desperate to get in before the new Virgin airline gets a chance to become established on the Pacific route.
SIA already have a disproportionately large slice of Australian international air travel for very little in return. As I see the takeover of Qantas, it basically will remain Australian controlled but may now become a real threat to the likes of SIA as it will have access to capital to grow the airline
Bloomberg:
The carrier's request to fly between Australia and the U.S., the so-called Trans-Pacific route, has been repeatedly rejected by Australia in a bid to shield Qantas, Australia's largest airline.
``There are no grounds whatsoever to maintain the protection of Qantas on the Pacific route,'' said Stephen Forshaw, a spokesman for Singapore Air. ``Today's decision by Qantas to accept the transfer of ownership to a private consortium removes any remote possibility that protection of Qantas had some 'national interest' attached to it.''