Qantas has made a further investment in its Jetstar Pacific operation in Vietnam to allow the low cost carrier to continue with its growth plans, reports The Australian newspaper.
The capital injection is understood to be less than $10 million into the carrier, which made its first month’s profit in July. Qantas currently owns 27 per cent of Jetstar Pacific, which was formerly Pacific Airlines, and is expected to increase its stake in the carrier to 30 per cent next year.
Jetstar CEO Bruce Buchanan said that the Qantas Group’s partnership has been working well. “We’ve injected a lot of energy in getting the brand established and getting the business model established — exactly what the Vietnamese government brought us in to do, to partner with them and to transform what was a staid old full-service airline with one aircraft into a successful growing low-cost carrier,” he said.
Jetstar Pacific currently operates a fleet of five Boeing 737s and one Airbus A320 on domestic services in Vietnam.
For more about Jetstar Pacific, refer to the article starting on p50 of the August 2009 issue of Australian Aviation.
