Qantas injects new capital into Jetstar Pacific to support expansion

Qantas has reportedly injected under AUD10 million into Vietnam-based Jetstar Pacific to support its expansion plans (The Australian, 09-Oct-09). Jetstar CEO, Bruce Buchanan, stated he believes the carrier has "finally turned around", after reporting its first monthly profit in Jul-2009, while the carrier's partnership with the Vietnam Government has been "positive". According to Mr Buchanan, Jetstar Pacific's market share has increased from 14% to 23%, while it has been able to reduce its costs by 29%. The subsidiary is now looking to launch international services from Ho Chi Minh City (Bloomberg, 09-Oct-09).

Jetstar: "We've injected a lot of energy in getting the brand established and getting the business model established - exactly what the Vietnamese Government brought us in to do, to partner with them and to transform what was a staid old full-service airline with one aircraft into a successful growing low-cost carrier…They've [Jetstar Pacific] got quite good aspirations in the marketplace and the market's grown 30% last year and had capacity increases of 50%. They want to really get on board and take advantage of these", Bruce Buchanan, CEO. Source: The Australian, 09-Oct-09.