From NZ Herald
Rival scoffs at Ansett talk
06.09.2002
By GREG ANSLEY Australia correspondent
CANBERRA - The Australian aviation industry yesterday remained sceptical of rumours that Singapore Airlines plans to resurrect failed Air NZ subsidiary Ansett.
Reports of a proposed new Ansett fleet of 24 Airbuses surfaced after Sydney Airports Corporation confirmed it had been in discussions with Singapore, and followed months of speculation that the airline intended to launch a domestic carrier in Australia.
Singapore had wanted to buy Ansett before the Air NZ takeover, and suffered heavily from the airline's collapse last year through its stake in Air NZ.
But Singapore remains a partner with Air NZ in the Star Alliance, and both carriers have been without an Australian alliance feeder since the disappearance of Ansett and the failure of several bids to put the airline back into the air.
Analysts have suggested that Singapore may be allowing rumours of a resurrected Ansett to circulate to keep its options open and to maintain pressure on Qantas and Virgin Blue.
Singapore is understood to be concerned that Qantas will succeed in winning a 25 per cent stake in Air NZ, creating a larger and more potent rival and possibly removing the New Zealand carrier from the Star Alliance.
But with the massive start-up costs involved in putting a large fleet of aircraft into operation, and the disastrous history of new airline ventures in Australia, analysts doubt that Singapore is seriously considering relaunching Ansett.
Virgin Blue yesterday dismissed the reports of a born-again Ansett.
Virgin Australia chief executive Brett Godfrey said Ansett's brand had been hammered by its collapse and it was unlikely that anyone would try to again fly under it.
Talk of 24 jets in the air soon was "irresponsible", and he challenged Singapore Airlines to confirm or deny the reports.
Singapore Airlines spokesman Innes Wilcox said the carrier was keeping the door open.
"Australia is obviously a market of interest to us because we have almost 70 services a week into Australia," he said."We obviously are keeping our options open."