There is great potential from Qantas-China Eastern Airlines partnership: Qantas CEO

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce, addressing the Tourism and Transport Forum in Sydney, stated (06-Feb-2013) the carrier believes the case for Jetstar Hong Kong is "compelling". He said: "Hong Kong is one of Asia's key hubs and a huge aviation market, and our research shows that Hong Kong residents are eager for more options and better prices. We are moving through the regulatory approval process now, having lodged our AOC application and appointed our Hong Kong-based CEO. We never take anything for granted, but we believe the case for the new airline is compelling". He continued, "Like all the Jetstar airlines, Jetstar Hong Kong will increase the overall size of the market and attract new passengers, rather than just compete for existing travellers. What all this means is that we have reached a turning point for the Jetstar business in terms of its scale. There is now a solid platform from which to accelerate growth and tap into the fastest growing aviation market in the world". With the venture, Mr Joyce noted that the company would expand its large presence in China and Greater China (Qantas already operates into Hong Kong and Shanghai and Jetstar currently flies to nine ports in Greater China). He noted that Qantas is the first international airline to enter a joint venture with a Chinese carrier, China Eastern, noting that "while the partnership with China Eastern is in very early days, there is great potential there". [more - original PR]