Airline News

Foreign airlines would be allowed to fly domestic passengers between Australia's big capital cities to improve competition in the aviation industry under reforms being pushed by the Federal Government's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

smh.com.au

Labels: australia

Singapore Airlines, in a submission to the government's National Aviation Policy Green Paper, said it believes the international air services policies of past governments have "not adequately balanced competing interests and that this has come at a cost to the tourism industry and consumer generally, through missed opportunities to capitalise on growth".

It singled out the so-called transpacific route between Australia and the US for particular criticism, saying that Australia's regulatory approach "maintains protection for Australian carriers, which is counter to its position of supporting open and free trade elsewhere."

The route is currently dominated by national carrier Qantas Airways and UAL Corp's United Airlines, due to a policy of only allowing Australian and US carriers to fly the route.

The Australian and US governments signed an open-skies agreement, allowing Australian or US-owned airlines to fly freely between the two countries, earlier this year. But the route is still closed to outside players such as Singapore Airlines.

"There is simply not enough competition on the transpacific route, with only Qantas and United Airlines servicing the route directly from Australia and fares are very high and uncompetitive as a result," Singapore Airlines said.

A third carrier, Virgin Blue, is finalising plans to fly between Australia and the US, via its V Australia unit, by the end of the year.

Protecting Qantas' interests is "serving only the interests of Qantas, not Australia's national interest, which depends on tourism growth," Singapore Airlines said.

Qantas operates around 50 services per week between Australia and Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York. United Airlines has around 14 weekly services, while Hawaiian Airlines flies three times per week between Honolulu and Sydney.

Singapore Airlines said it is a "long-term player in the Australian market" and has a "keen interest" in developing a strong relationship with the new Australian government.

The airline has long coveted access to the lucrative transpacific route and had hoped a change in government in Australia last November would see a softening of opposition to its ambitions.

Australian Transport Minister Anthony Albanese said in February that his government has no immediate plans to grant foreign carriers access to the Australia to US route and would only consider it if it was deemed in the interests of Australian travellers and the economy.

The Victorian government, in a separate submission, also called on the federal government to grant Singapore Airlines and other "third country" airlines access to the Australia to US route.

It said that, despite the recent open skies agreement with the US, establishing new services to Australia is not a high priority for US airlines. It wants the government to set a timetable for allowing Singapore Airlines and other international carriers access to the route.

Source: www.theaustralian.news.com.au

Labels: australia, open skies deal, Singapore Airlines

After a successful US deal, Canberra is pushing Brussels to negotiate an open skies agreement opening up more competitive aviation links between Europe and Australia.

business.theage.com.au

Labels: australia, europe, open skies deal

Australia and the United States have finalised the long-awaited Open Skies Agreement which will allow vast expansion of air travel and competition on the busy trans-Pacific route.

theage.com.au

Labels: australia, open skies deal, US

Australia and the US could sign an "open skies" agreement this week that will give Virgin Blue clearance to launch 10 weekly services to the US by the end of this year.

business.smh.com.au

Labels: australia, open skies deal, US, Virgin Blue

An Indonesian airline with a chequered safety record is looking to launch Australia's fourth low-cost domestic airline, raising a further challenge to Qantas-Jetstar and Virgin Blue's dominance of the market.

business.smh.com.au

Labels: australia, Indonesia, Jetstar, Qantas, Virgin Blue

Tiger Airways appears to have already outgrown its initial launch plan and is looking to establish a second Australian base and bring in more aircraft.

news.com.au

Labels: airline hub, australia, Tiger Airways

Australians could travel to Europe for less than $500 one-way when Jetstar begins flying its new fleet of fuel-efficient Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

news.com.au

Labels: 787 dreamliner, australia, europe, Jetstar

An aviation expert believes Australia is witnessing an air travel revolution, as the nation's fourth domestic carrier took to the skies for the first time with fares as low as $19.95 from Melbourne to the Gold Coast.

news.com.au

Labels: australia

Tiger Airways is expected to be given the all-clear to start domestic Australian flights this Friday, with the airline set to receive its Air Operator's Certificate tomorrow morning.

business.theage.com.au

Labels: australia, Tiger Airways

Emirates has tempered its ambitious expansion plans for the Australian market, after announcing plans to boost its flights from 49 a week to 70 "by the end of 2009".

business.smh.com.au

Labels: Airbus, australia, Emirates

THE aircraft manufacturer Boeing has predicted air traffic on the Qantas dominated Australia-North America route could nearly quadruple over the next two decades if the route were opened to more competition.

smh.com.au

Labels: australia, open skies deal, US

Virgin Blue's plans to fly to North America have been given a boost after the Australian and US governments announced their intention to "conclude a comprehensive open-skies aviation agreement" early next year.

Footloose Adventure Travel

Labels: australia, open skies deal, US, Virgin Blue

Malaysia's long-haul budget carrier AirAsia X said Tuesday it will launch inaugural flights to China and Australia in October with the arrival of its first A330 aircraft.

afp.google.com

Labels: AirAsiaX, australia, China, Malaysia

Australians will be the largest national group of passengers on the Singapore Airlines A380 maiden flight.

news.com.au

Labels: A380, australia, Singapore Airlines

Australian regional airline Rex has warned that increasing fuel, security and regulatory costs are likely to send weaker carriers to the wall in the coming year and that it won't necessarily be able to fill the gap caused by their departure.

smh.com.au

Labels: australia, rex

Budget Asian airline Viva Macau has cancelled its first flight into Australia after failing to receive regulatory approval.

theage.com.au

Labels: australia, Viva Macau

Singapore Airlines yesterday vowed to resume its campaign to fly the lucrative Pacific Route to the US after the Australian election campaign.

theaustralian.news.com.au

Labels: australia, Singapore Airlines, US

Virgin Blue last week unveiled the branding of its new trans-Pacific carrier, which will link Australia and the US from late next year. It's to be called V Australia (it can't use the name Virgin because of complicated international ownership arrangements), the name chosen by the winning entrant in a competition run by Virgin Blue.

theage.com.au

Labels: australia, US, V Australia

New long-distance budget airline Air Asia X says it will announce its first Australian destination within days. Promotional fares would include $US10 ($11.30) flights to London on selected flights, but regular fares would still be significantly cheaper than full service carriers.

news.com.au

Labels: AirAsiaX, australia, London

Qantas Airways Ltd's low-cost subsidiary, Jetstar, said on Tuesday it was looking at making a large order for Airbus A320 aircraft to meet its growth plans for Australia and Asia.

reuters.com

Labels: Airbus, australia, Jetstar, Qantas

Virgin Blue today launched the name of its new long haul international airline, V Australia, which it plans will take to the skies by the end of next year.

theage.com.au

Labels: australia, US, V Australia, Virgin Blue

Budget airline Virgin Blue has purchased a $61 million Brisbane site for its new national headquarters.

theage.com.au

Labels: australia, Virgin Blue

Tiger Airways is to offer one-way fares between Perth and Melbourne for $59.95 in a move that has prompted Jetstar to abandon its vow to remain Australia's lowest priced airline.

news.com.au

Labels: australia, Jetstar, Tiger Airways

One-dollar flights, happy-hour specials, flight combos and email-only deals. Welcome to the new emerging new landscape of Australian aviation.

smh.com.au

Labels: australia, cheap flights

Virgin Blue has stepped up plans to launch flights to the US by November next year by formally asking the Australian Government to renegotiate its US air transport treaty.

theage.com.au

Labels: australia, US, Virgin Blue

Australian airlines will be required to collect fingerprints from customers travelling to the US so they can be matched against a database of potential terrorists.

news.com.au

Labels: airlines, australia, fingerprints

Tiger Airways has ordered up to 50 extra Airbus A320s for its upcoming launch into the Australian domestic market.

theage.com.au

Labels: Airbus, australia, domestic, Tiger Airways

Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia has announced plans to commence flights between Australia and Kuala Lumpur.

theage.com.au

Labels: AirAsia, australia, Malaysia

The Australian Government is expected to decide if it will permit Emirates Airlines to fly 16 daily services to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth by 2014, a decision which would boost the UAE carrier's plans to become the biggest foreign airline flying to Australia.

theage.com.au

Labels: australia, Emirates, UAE

Alice Springs could become Australia's international air hub under a proposal to alleviate congestion at existing capital city airports.

theage.com.au

Labels: air hub, alice springs, australia

Indian Airlines will fly to Melbourne Australia from November 1 2007. India's largest airline will fly from five cities - New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Calcutta and Bangalore - to Melbourne via Singapore.

theage.com.au

Labels: australia, indian airlines, melbourne

Singapore based low cost airline Tiger Airways is about to expand its opeations to Australia. The airline is conducting a survey on their website to find where to fly to in Australia. Vote for your selection here:

tigerairways.com

Labels: australia, low cost airline, Singapore, Tiger Airways