JETSTAR group chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka remains undaunted by opposition from Hong Kong airlines to the Australian carrier's joint venture in Hong Kong, but concedes it is taking longer than expected, The Australian's Steve Creedy reports.
The low-cost joint-venture was originally expected to begin operating in the middle of this year and now looks as if it will miss a second target of year's end.
The airline's application for an air transport licence was gazetted in August but has yet to jump the regulatory hurdle amid strong opposition from incumbent airlines such as Cathay Pacific. The local airlines argue the joint venture between Jetstar, China Eastern and locally based company Shun Tak Holdings does not meet the city's principal place of business requirements and would effectively be controlled from Australia.
Jetstar has rejected the argument and Hrdlicka yesterday expressed confidence it would still succeed.
She said Jetstar Hong Kong was a "strong local, very independent business" led by a capable local chief executive and a chairman, Pansy Ho, with a long and deep history in tourism and transportation infrastructure in Hong Kong.
The airline was trying to give regulators confidence it should be designated a Hong Kong carrier and granted a licence to operate.
"We are pushing for as much speed as we can get through the process, but it's not in our hands," Hrdlicka said during the delivery flight of Jetstar's first 787 from Seattle. "It's definitely taking longer than we would like. We are very hopeful we will get an expedient execution of the process."
Hrdlicka said that, assuming it cleared the regulatory hurdle, Jetstar Hong Kong could be up and running in a few months.
She said the airline was ready to go with a full team on the ground.
"We're ready to go once we've got a licence. There will be a process we'd need to work through with the regulator, proving flights and so on, so it's going to take more than a few weeks, but it won't take more than a couple of months," Hrdlicka said.
Qantas Group chief executive Alan Joyce said Jetstar's operations had developed at different paces and the company had to remain flexible. He said Ho was running the process because she knew it better than anyone else and was judging the pace as well as what needed to happen.
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Last edited by boocs; 9th Oct 2013 at 06:02.