Cathay Pacific sues Australia<\/p>\n
SYDNEY (AFP): Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific has launched a
\ncourt action against the Australian government here to try to
\nprevent its rights to fly here from being suspended from June 30,
\nairline officials said yesterday.<\/p>\n
The action follows the failure of talks to settle the
\nincreasingly intractable tit-for-tat row between Hong Kong and
\nCanberra over the intra-Asia traffic rights of Australian flag-
\ncarrier Qantas.<\/p>\n
Cathay said yesterday the dispute was threatening more than
\nA$1 billion (US$720 million) in revenue for the three airlines --
\nCathay, Qantas and Ansett Australia, as well as the travel plans
\nof tens of thousands of visitors to Australia from Hong Kong.<\/p>\n
\"The court action is very nearly our last resort because the
\nnegotiations to try to settle the dispute were not showing any
\nresult,\" a spokesman for Cathay Pacific said yesterday.<\/p>\n
The action, initiated in the Federal Court here yesterday and
\nadjourned until Tuesday, followed Canberra's decision not to
\nrenew Cathay's Australian operating permit beyond June 30 in
\nreprisal for action by Hong Kong against Qantas.<\/p>\n
The Australian government, understood to have been caught
\noffguard by the litigation, said earlier this week it was still
\noptimistic about finding a settlement and that talks would
\ncontinue when in fact Cathay says they have virtually collapsed
\nwithout solution.<\/p>\n
The Hong Kong administration, which has accused Qantas of
\nexceeding passenger limitations on flights from Hong Kong to
\nother Asian destinations, had imposed a 50-percent cap on Qantas
\npassengers who could be picked up in Hong Kong from July 1.<\/p>\n
That meant that for every two passengers flying from Sydney to
\nBangkok, for instance, one extra passenger could be picked up in
\nHong Kong.<\/p>\n
Hong Kong has threatened reciprocal action not just against
\nQantas but against Australia's fledgling international carrier
\nAnsett as well.<\/p>\n
However, Cathay told AFP it is arguing that the Australian
\ngovernment-imposed sanction was not only an excessive
\nretaliation, but one which breached two particular laws under
\nwhich the court action has been initiated.<\/p>\n
Cathay Pacific manager for Australia, Christopher Pratt, said
\nthe ban on Cathay was \"heavy-handed and bore no relationship to
\nthe issues at dispute between Qantas and the Hong Kong
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
\"We are only asking the Australian government to treat Cathay
\nPacific in accordance with the agreement and according to the
\nsame policy and principles it espoused during the recent air
\nservices dispute with Northwest Airlines,\" he added in a
\nstatement.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/cathay-pacific-sues-australia-1447893297",
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