Qantas partner to wind up Jetstar Hong Kong

Hong Kong conglomerate Shun Tak Holdings has said it will wind up the remnants of Jetstar Hong Kong .

Hong Kong conglomerate Shun Tak Holdings has said it will wind up the remnants of Jetstar Hong Kong after the airline’s failure to get permission to operate from the Chinese city.

The joint venture between Qantas and China Eastern was launched in 2012 and Shun Tak took an equal 33 per cent stake with the airlines the following year as part of moves to counter claims the low-cost carrier would not be controlled in Hong Kong.

It was dealt a fatal blow in June when Hong Kong’s Air Transport Licensing Authority ruled it did not have its principal place of business in the city.

“After reviewing the decision and potential course of actions, the group has resolved not to further invest in the business of JHK and proposed to terminate its establishment and proceed with its winding-up,’’ Shun Tak said this week. “The investment in JHK is relatively insignificant to the results of the Group.” Qantas recently wrote off $21m on the project.

The Regional Aviation Association of Australia has backed a call by Abbott government business adviser Maurice Newman to open key areas of Airservices Australia to competition. The RAAA said similar moves in other countries had shown government monopolies could be improved significantly when subjected to market forces. It also expressed concern about probity issues related to the OneSKY project raised in recent Senate hearings and the high turnover of executives at Airservices. RAAA chairman Jim Davis said the air navigation provider was in “serious need of a an independent review’’. “There is no reason why functions such as control towers and airfield fire fighting services should not be opened up to competition,’’ Mr Davis said. However, Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss on Wednesday reiterated the government’s stance that airspace management should not be opened to competition for safety reasons and because of the move to the $1.5 billion OneSKY system. Mr Truss said OneSKY, which will bring together civilian and defence air traffic control, would bring considerable savings as well as safety and management improvements. “I think, to be realistic, the advantages of having of single OneSKY management overwhelm any potential gains that there might be as result of competition,’’ he said. Mr Truss said there could be potential to open ground services such as fire fighting to competition but this was also not simple because of the high standards required under international aviation law.

Tigerair Australia will begin flying between Melbourne and Coffs Harbour from December 9 with fares starting at $59 one-way. The airline said the three weekly return services would add more than 1000 additional seats to the NSW leisure destination each week.

Qantas has inked its 19th enterprise bargaining agreement since introducing an 18-month pay freeze in February last year. The agreement with pilots at regional subsidiary Eastern Australia was voted in by more than 90 per cent of those taking part in the ballot. Meanwhile, Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce will follow up the airline’s recent annual results with a talk on creating a sustainable and competitive business at a Royal Aeronautical Society lunch in Sydney on September 9.

Airbus Defence and Space has won two contracts worth about €130m ($195m) to equip and support nine military and civil/military Australian airfields with cutting-edge, powerful airport surveillance sensors. The contract will see nine complete and one training system delivered by the end of 2020. The technology provided wide-area surveillance around air bases as well as safe guidance for individual aircraft during takeoff and landing, the European company said.

An agreement between Air New Zealand and Cathay Pacific to co-operate on the Hong-Kong to Auckland route was this week re-authorised by the New Zealand government until 2019. The airlines said the strategic agreement, which has been place since early 2019, had already benefited customers travelling between New Zealand and Hong Kong, including up to three flights per day and reciprocal frequent flyer benefits.