Trade Minister Andrew Robb has said he will raise the issue of foreign investment in Qantas when he mets with Emirates Airline chairman Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed al-Maktoum in Dubai this week.
“I’m sure he’ll raise it if I don’t. But I will explicitly mention it,” Minister Robb was reported as saying.
“We have said that we want to open up the opportunities for foreign investors… I think Qantas would very much welcome other foreign investors, and that would give them a much more level playing field with Virgin Australia,” Robb told journalists in Dubai as reported by Al Arabiya News.
“I am meeting with the head of Emirates. And I will give him the same answer, that the new government [wants] to see viable airlines… In the case of Qantas I think it requires a change in the ownership act and the potential for other entries into the ownership. We want to create the right environment that allows that to happen.”
The Qantas-Emirates codesharing alliance commenced operations on March 28 last year, but Emirates has previously ruled out taking an equity stake in the Australian airline.
