Ansett Australia to fly to KL soon
Ansett Australia to fly to KL soon
SYDNEY (AFP): Ansett Australia will launch services to Kuala
Lumpur three months ahead of its planned entry to the southeast
Asian market under a new agreement signed with Malaysian
Airlines, airline officials said yesterday.
The code-sharing (or seat-sharing) deal, which is still
subject to formal government approval, will allow Australia's
fledgling international carrier to offer 800 seats a week on MAS
services from Kuala Lumpur to Sydney and Melbourne from August 1.
The Malaysian carrier has similar code-sharing rights on
Ansett's domestic operations in Australia and New Zealand.
Ansett announced last month a planned expansion of its Asian
network with flights to Taiwan and Malaysia from November, but
the code-sharing arrangement allows early low-cost entry to the
highly competitive South-East Asia market.
Apart from flights to the Indonesian resort island of Bali as
an extension of its domestic services, Ansett already operates
five services a week to Osaka in Japan and Hong Kong which it
hopes to extend to a daily service.
According to plans filed with the International Air Services
Commission in Canberra, it has not made a final decision
regarding planned operations to Singapore, foreshadowed last
year.
A copy of the plans released yesterday said Ansett believed
code-sharing would be "in the greater public interest in that it
would enhance the range of services available inbound and
outbound."
Partnership
It would also "foster the development of tourism through the
partner airline," the document said.
"Ansett will price and sell its capacity on the route
independently of MAS, and will ensure that all passengers will be
informed at the time of ticket reservation that the flights are
operated by Ansett as joint services."
Plans by Air New Zealand to acquire a half share of Ansett
worth A$550 million (US$396 million) are meantime reported to
have been stalled by Australian government reluctance to give
policy undertakings which could damage the upcoming Qantas share-
float.
Ansett Australia is owned equally by media giant News Corp
Ltd. and transport multi-national TNT Ltd., which is understood
to be negotiating to sell its 50 percent stake to Air New
Zealand.
However, Air New Zealand is reported to be seeking government
assurances that it would subsequently be permitted to acquire
100-percent ownership of Ansett if TNT should decide some time in
the future to part with Ansett.
But Canberra, which has set a 49-percent limit on overseas
ownership of the national flag-carrier Qantas -- and no more than
25 percent by current shareholder British Airways -- has so far
made no response to the Air New Zealand request.