SIA bid for US-direct route
The Age
Monday March 15, 2010
SINGAPORE Airlines will use Jetstar's aggressive push into Singapore as leverage to back its bid to be allowed to fly between Australia and the United States.Jetstar's decision early this year to make Singapore its Asian hub €” instead of Bangkok or Ho Chi Minh €” has given Singapore Airlines the ammunition it needs in its long-standing push to be allowed to fly directly across the Pacific to the US. At present, direct flights are limited to Australian and US airlines.Qantas' no-frills offshoot is using so-called seventh-freedom rights - the most liberal concessions under bilateral arrangements - to set up its base in Singapore and fly to other Asian destinations.Singapore Airline's regional vice-president, Subhas Menon, said the carrier wanted the federal government to return the favour on air rights."It's just a matter of principle. I don't think the Australian government can say that Singapore has not provided Australian carriers maximum access," said Mr Menon."We hope that it will not be too long into the future before Singapore will be allowed to fly under fifth-freedom rights out of Australia and the US."The aviation white paper, released in December, made it clear that the federal government did not intend to open up the trans-Pacific route any time soon. It wants to allow Virgin Blue's fledgling long-haul offshoot, V Australia, to establish itself before allowing foreign airlines to fly the route.The government has also made clear that the trans-Pacific will be opened up only in return for other countries granting Australian carriers greater access to profitable routes.Singapore Airlines has previously urged the government to reveal a timeframe for access to the trans-Pacific, saying the white paper merely articulated what has been said previously.Ending a three-year search, Jetstar settled on Singapore's Changi Airport in January as its hub for flights in Asia and as its launch pad for services to Europe.The expansion in Singapore is likely to mean it will boost its maintenance operations and cabin-crew base there over coming years. The airline and its part-owned Singaporean affiliate, Jetstar Asia, already have about 200 cabin crew based in Singapore.
© 2010 The Age
