Qantas CEO talks down Virgin/HNA China threat
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce says the airline group’s strong Asian network and high-calibre partners in the region leave it in a strong position to compete against anything the recently announced Virgin Australia/HNA Group tie-up comes up with. Virgin Australia has applied for an allocation of capacity to serve Beijing and Hong Kong with its
Airbus has reaffirmed its forecast of delivering 50 of its A350-900s in calendar 2016, despite the “challenges” of delays to cabin equipment. Through the first five months of calendar 2016, Airbus has delivered nine A350-900s to the likes of Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines, meaning it has to hand over a further 41 frames
Finnair’s Australian boss Geoff Stone says stopping over in Asia on the way to Europe is coming back into favour amid geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. Although Finnair does not serve this market with its own aircraft, the airline has codeshare arrangements with British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, as well as interline agreements
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce says Australia’s domestic carriers have shown “discipline” in response to a sluggish economy amid pre-election worries and ongoing weakness in the resources sector. Over the past month, both Qantas and its domestic rival Virgin Australia have put the brakes on domestic growth in an effort to deal with the weaker-than-expected
Air New Zealand says its run of yearly earnings growth is expected to end in 2017 amid new entrants on existing routes and currency changes. The Star Alliance member has guided the market to earnings before taxation of more than NZ$800 million for the 12 months to June 30 2016. If full year figures are in
Qantas pilots get new look
Captain Debbie Slade has been a Qantas pilot for 27 years and counting. During that time, she has gone to work in a uniform that, while functional and practical, was never really designed for women pilots. All that will change from October, when Slade will head into the flightdeck of the Airbus A330s she currently flies
