..... and this to add further speculation that something is really going on.
I would have thought that people would have learnt from the past, especially when it comes to the info that Qantas will get by being on the board of Air NZ.
Could it be that perhaps Air NZ likes getting it from behind???
- as that is all that will happen if they continue down this track.
Commission denies Air NZ-Qantas discussions
31 October 2002
The Commerce Commission denied today media reports that it had talked with any of the parties involved in the proposed Air New Zealand-Qantas partnership.
Papers on both sides of the Tasman said the airlines plus Australian discounter Virgin Blue had been in discussions with competition watchdogs but at least on this side of the Tasman, the commission is denying it.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) was not commenting one way or the other.
The Australian Financial Review reported today Virgin Blue had informally briefed competition regulators on both sides of the Tasman on a range of concerns it wants addressed if Qantas and Air New Zealand strike an equity partnership.
It said that preliminary discussions with the ACCC and Commerce Commission on the discount carrier's concerns had taken place.
However, the commission's takeovers manager Geoff Thorn told NZPA the commission had had no contact with Virgin for five months when the fledgling airline had aired some of its concerns.
AFR said Virgin wanted assurances competitors would have access to ground handling and other services at competitive rates and that adequate terminal facilities be available at Auckland Airport.
It has also raised the idea that Air New Zealand be forced to divest Freedom Air, its no-frills subsidiary, which Virgin would be interested in buying.
Air New Zealand has re-launched the low cost Freedom on leisure-based trans-Tasman routes, particularly to Queensland, in a move viewed as a pre-emptive strike against Virgin. It has withdrawn from the domestic market.
Air NZ deputy chairman Roger France said after the annual meeting on Tuesday that he did not wish to comment on the prospect of selling Freedom to Virgin.
"For us to be in anything other than to neither confirm nor deny on something as significant as that would not be good policy," he said, adding that Freedom was a significant business for Air New Zealand that was running very well.
AFR said Virgin was also likely to press for undertakings that would restrict Qantas and Air New Zealand's ability to add capacity and discount prices to eliminate rivals.
Meanwhile, The Dominion Post said Air New Zealand and Qantas were negotiating with competition watchdogs over their proposed partnership deal – which Mr Thorn again denied.
The commission had only had talks about process and he was not expecting the commission to be approached on the substance of competition concerns until after a commercial deal had been publicly announced.
The Dominion Post said the Qantas-Air New Zealand deal had essentially been nutted out.
The ACCC said it had discussions on the partnership but would neither confirm nor deny last night that it was talking to the airlines.
The Dominion Post said negotiations, lasting over six months, had reached the fine detail and the autonomy of Air New Zealand's management and board was assured.
Qantas, expected to take a quarter stake, would dominate the partnership by its size, but would not control Air New Zealand, analysts said.
Air New Zealand's stronger profit outlook announced on Tuesday, with it now forecasting a raw profit of $200 million this year, had improved its negotiating position.
Mr France made it clear on Tuesday that Air New Zealand expects a seat on the Qantas board to "put some glue in the relationship" as part of the deal.
Analysts said Qantas would gain considerable savings by not having to protect itself from Air New Zealand and would achieve savings by servicing its aircraft and engines in New Zealand.
Air New Zealand shares were unchanged today at 53 cents.