AIRLINES – AUSTRALIA

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

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

Virgin, Jetstar to face joint action

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Original article by Anthony Klan
The Australian – Page: 19 : 7-Aug-14

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission recently launched Federal Court action against Jetstar Airlines and Virgin Australia over allegedly misleading practices. It is being claimed that the carriers’ online booking web sites hide additional fees and charges when they advertise fares for flights. The ACCC’s legal team has now agreed with a suggestion by the judge to combine the two actions into a single one

CORPORATES
VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX VAH, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, JETSTAR AIRLINES PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, COLES GROUP LIMITED, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES

Air NZ ‘adamant’ Virgin stays listed

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Original article by Jamie Freed
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 14-Jul-14

Air New Zealand (NZ) is Virgin Australia’s largest shareholder, with a 25.99 per cent stake. The carrier, Singapore Airlines, Etihad Airways and Virgin Group have a combined stake of 79.4 per cent in Virgin Australia, but Air NZ CFO Rob McDonald has downplayed speculation that they could seek to privatise the airline. He stresses the importance of maintaining a sharemarket listing, while he has ruled out spinning off Air NZ’s frequent flyer program in the near-term

CORPORATES
VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX VAH, AIR NEW ZEALAND LIMITED – ASX AIZ, SINGAPORE AIRLINES LIMITED, ETIHAD AIRWAYS, VIRGIN GROUP LIMITED, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED

Qantas engineers face axe in $2bn cut

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Original article by Damon Kitney
The Australian – Page: 20 : 9-Jul-14

Qantas Airways has cut another 167 jobs from its engineering division. The retrenchments in Sydney and Melbourne are due to the retirement of older aircraft and the consolidation of the engineering operations. The airline aims to reduce costs by $A2 billion. At the end of June 2014 it had cut employee numbers by 2,200, and it expects to shed another 1,800 jobs by June 2015

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN