After the failed attempt to create a premium carrier with Malaysia Airlines, Qantas is to try again to make a new airline.
With it’s Jetstar unit, Qantas and China Eastern Airlines are joining together to create a new budget carrier for the Chinese market Both airlines will be equal partners in this venture. The plan is to tie the networks together, with Jetstar Asia based in Singapore and Jetstar Pacific, based in Vietnam, complimenting the Australia and New Zealand units, and the start-up of Jetstar Japan.
The unit will be based out of Hong Kong International Airport, initially with a fleet of three Airbus A320 aircraft, with plans to expand to 18 frames based out of Hong Kong.
Service commencement has been pegged for 2013, with the major expansion complete by 2015. Services have not been announced at this time, but it is a fair guess to say that destinations in Mainland China, Japan, South Korea and South East Asia are probably on the target list.
It’s an interesting move with competing members from different alliances working together – Qantas being a OneWorld member whilst China Easter is a SkyTeam member.
For Qantas, it is a chance to put behind the debacle of the “Premium airline” that was in the works and try and make some money. For China Eastern, this a chance for expansion and learning how to run an LCC…