I49 Air and Space Transport

Borghetti beats Joyce on pay

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Original article by Steve Creedy
The Australian – Page: 23 : 1-Oct-14

Figures on the remuneration of leading executives at airline Virgin Australia show that CEO John Borghetti was paid a base salary of $A1.67m in 2013-14. This is less than the $A2.05m for Alan Joyce, his counterpart at main rival Qantas Airways. However including incentive awards, Borghetti’s overall package increased 4% year-on-year to reach $A2.78m. The respective underlying losses before tax of Qantas and Virgin for 2013-14 were $A646m and $A212m

CORPORATES
VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX VAH, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, VELOCITY FREQUENT FLYER PTY LTD

Seat sales to Europe lure travellers

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Original article by Jamie Freed
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 23-Sep-14

A number of international airlines are offering low-cost airfares for Australians who want to travel to Europe in 2015. Many carriers have maintained their "early bird" fares at the same or a similar level as those for 2013, although most flights must be booked during the last three months of 2014. Singapore Airlines is including a Singapore stopover in its early bird packages

CORPORATES
SINGAPORE AIRLINES LIMITED, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, EMIRATES AIRLINES, CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS LIMITED, ETIHAD AIRWAYS, MALAYSIAN AIRLINE SYSTEMS, FLIGHT CENTRE TRAVEL GROUP LIMITED – ASX FLT

China Eastern, Qantas ties grow

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Original article by Matt O’Sullivan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 18-Sep-14

China Eastern Airlines wants to strengthen its relationship with Qantas. The Chinese airline’s GM for Oceania, Kathy Zhang, said deeper co-operation is necessary when business conditions are tough. Qantas lost almost $A500 million in 2013-14 and its management sees alliances as instrumental in increasing revenue from its international operations

CORPORATES
CHINA EASTERN AIRLINES CORPORATION LIMITED, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES COMPANY LIMITED, SRILANKAN AIRLINES

Smelly passengers despised

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Original article by Geoffrey Thomas
The West Australian – Page: 3 : 16-Sep-14

A survey of air travellers has found that smelly passengers are high on the list of problems. AirlineRatings.com surveyed more tban 1,550 travellers in 2014. Nearly 35 per cent felt that the worst passengers were those who reclined their seats, while 25.5 per cent felt that smelly passengers were the worst. In two incidents, passengers were removed from aircraft because of their strong odour

CORPORATES
AIRLINERATINGS.COM, AIR CANADA, AMERICAN AIRLINES INCORPORATED, AMR CORPORATION

Qantas set to beat Virgin in race to get back in the black

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Original article by Jamie Freed
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 20 : 2-Sep-14

Qantas and Virgin Australia both posted losses for the 2013-14 financial year, and cost-reduction measures will be a key strategy in their return to profitability. Analysts forecast that Qantas will book a profit of about $A66m for 2014-15, while Virgin is not tipped to be in the black until 2015-16. Meanwhile, Virgin will gain $A336m from the sale of a 35 per cent stake in its frequent flyer program to Affinity Equity Partners

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX VAH, VELOCITY FREQUENT FLYER PTY LTD, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, CLSA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, AFFINITY EQUITY PARTNERS (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, MERRILL LYNCH (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, AIR NEW ZEALAND LIMITED – ASX AIZ, SINGAPORE AIRLINES LIMITED, ETIHAD AIRWAYS, VIRGIN GROUP LIMITED, TIGER AIRWAYS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Qantas $3b loss start of comeback

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Original article by Jamie Freed
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 10 : 29-Aug-14

Restructuring costs and write-downs have prompted Qantas to post a loss of $A2.84bn for the 2013-14 financial year. The national carrier’s underlying loss of $A646m compares with forecasts of a $A750m loss. Linda White of the Australian Services Union says CEO Alan Joyce and Qantas directors should step down as a result of the airline’s record loss. Joyce is upbeat about the outlook for Qantas, which has forecast an underlying profit for the first half of 2014-15

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, AUSTRALIAN SERVICES UNION, VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX VAH, REGIONAL EXPRESS AIRLINES, REGIONAL EXPRESS HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX REX, TIGER AIRWAYS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AIR NEW ZEALAND LIMITED – ASX AIZ, SINGAPORE AIRLINES LIMITED, ETIHAD AIRWAYS, STANDARD AND POOR’S CORPORATION, BRITISH AIRWAYS PLC, MERRILL LYNCH (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, COLONIAL FIRST STATE GROUP LIMITED

Jetstar facing a longer HK wait

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Original article by Steve Creedy
The Australian – Page: 17 : 25-Aug-14

The Jetstar Airlines budget carrier off-shoot of Australian group Qantas Airways in March 2012 formed a joint venture with China Eastern Airlines and the Shun Tak group. However, regulatory hurdles and lobbying by rival Cathay Pacific Airways have so far prevented the Jetstar Hong Kong business from operating. Insiders now say the local authorities will not assess the application until March 2015. The partners have sold a further three Airbus A320 aircraft due to the delay

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, JETSTAR AIRLINES PTY LTD, JETSTAR HONG KONG AIRWAYS LIMITED, CHINA EASTERN AIRLINES CORPORATION LIMITED, CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS LIMITED, SHUN TAK HOLDINGS LIMITED, AIRBUS SAS, EMIRATES AIRLINES, ETIHAD AIRWAYS

Qantas frequent flyer float plan back on ice

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Original article by Michael Smith,Jamie Freed
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 10 : 21-Aug-14

The frequent flyer program of Qantas boasted underlying EBITA of $A146m for the first half of 2013-14, and now more than 10 million members. The carrier is believed to be poised to abandon plans to sell 30-40 per cent of the Qantas Loyalty business via an IPO, and a number of analysts had concerns about such a strategy. Qantas will release its full-year results on 28 August 2014, and is tipped to post a pre-tax underlying loss of $A750m

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN,QANTAS FREQUENT FLYER LIMITED,SHAW STOCKBROKING LIMITED,BT INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED – ASX BTT,COLONIAL FIRST STATE GROUP LIMITED,BALANCED EQUITY MANAGEMENT PTY LTD,WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW,MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG,CITIGROUP PTY LTD

Qantas loss tipped to top $1.1bn

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Original article by Steve Creedy
The Australian – Page: 19 : 19-Aug-14

Qantas Airways will report its 2013-14 results in the week starting 25 August 2014, and is tipped to have suffered a record loss of at least $A1.1bn. Analysts’ predictions for the underlying loss before tax are around $A770m, and there will also be major abnormal charges stemming from the downsizing moves at the carrier. Qantas CFO Gareth Evans says the company has shed some 2,200 staff so far and is aiming for a further 2,800 redundancies, to realise cost savings worth $A1bn

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, MACQUARIE RESEARCH EQUITIES, MACQUARIE BANK LIMITED – ASX MBL, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Qantas under attack in air wars dogfight

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Original article by Jamie Freed
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 15-Aug-14

The Australian Government insists on reciprocity in traffic rights for airlines of Australia and Hong Kong. Cathay Pacific argues that Qantas Airways’ Jetstar Hong Kong will not comply with Hong Kong’s Basic Law, because the new budget carrier business of the Australian airline will be effectively controlled from Australia. Mike Mrdak, the secretary of the Australian Department of Infrastructure & Regional Development, commented on the matter in mid-August 2014. He said Cathay Pacific and other Hong Kong carriers will not be given increased traffic rights into Australia unless Australian carriers are given the same rights in Hong Kong

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, JETSTAR AIRLINES PTY LTD, JETSTAR HONG KONG AIRWAYS LIMITED, CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, CHINA EASTERN AIRLINES CORPORATION LIMITED, SHUN TAK HOLDINGS LIMITED