Qantas Group flies into Vietnam venture with Jetstar Pacific

[Keith T 2]

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story...1-23349,00.html

 

Jetstar flies into Vietnam venture

 

Steve Creedy, Aviation writer | April 14, 2008

 

QANTAS is set to boost its presence in Southeast Asia by establishing a fleet of 30 Jetstar-branded aircraft in Vietnam.

 

Qantas executives and Vietnamese officials will today unveil an agreement to change the name of Pacific Airlines, Vietnam's second-largest carrier, to Jetstar Pacific as part of a joint venture that will also lead to a fleet of 30 leased Airbus A320 aircraft being based in the country by 2014.

 

The move will increase the Qantas offshoot's Asian profile and means Jetstar-branded planes will fly to 40 destinations in Asia, the Asia-Pacific region, Australia and New Zealand.

 

The joint venture will initially grow services in Vietnam before expanding internationally from late this year to destinations likely to include Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Cambodia.

 

A Vietnamese website being developed for jetstar.com to expand the brand's penetration among more than 85 million Vietnamese is expected to result in more services between Australia and Vietnam. Jetstar chief executive Alan Joyce said the move would give Jetstar huge distribution in the Vietnam market. "We were always very strong in Australia but having Pacific Airlines here with the Jetstar name will give us the second most recognised airline brand and that means we can sell more effectively our Australia-direct operations," he said in Ho Chi Minh City yesterday.

 

The Vietnam move is part of a wider strategy to build up the Qantas Group's presence in Asia through a series of partnerships using the Jetstar brand. It already has a stake in Singapore-based Jetstar Asia and hopes ultimately to make similar investments in other countries, linking an intra-Asia network to Jetstar's long-haul and short-haul international operations from Australia.

 

It is also planning to establish a Southeast Asian hub that will allow it to fly on to southern Europe. The Australian carrier has had a team of executives working with Pacific, which is majority-owned by Vietnam's State Capital Investment Corporation, since it bought an 18 per cent stake in the carrier last July for $30 million.

 

It aims to increase its stake to 30 per cent, the highest investment currently allowed in Vietnam, by 2010. Qantas chief executive Geoff Dixon said the Vietnamese carrier would help Jetstar become one of the biggest and fastest growing brands in the region.

 

"Jetstar Pacific will be able to access the expertise and resources in the Qantas Group," he said.

 

Vietnam's domestic market had huge possibilities, with the route between Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi potentially bigger than Melbourne-Sydney, he said.

 

"There is a growing number of people who want to use air transportation and I think that's a market we certainly will be tapping into," he said.

 

"There's also a huge international tourism market. It's one of the biggest international growth areas, and that's people coming into the country but also travelling around the country.

 

"Again that's something we're tapping into."

 

The rebranding will lead to the Vietnamese carrier gradually adopting a similar product range to Jetstar in Australia.

 

Mr Joyce said the aircraft would have similar manuals and operational procedures so the airline could interchange pilots with its Australian counterpart.

[Peter Smith 1]

I said to a lot of people the day QF took a stake in Pacific Airlines that in no time, their white planes will magically become silver

[zaki 0]

Mmm... interesting news. IIRC Air Asia once intended to make investment in Pacific Airlines but got rejected. Vina Air Asia was refused by their government also. No wonder lah...

[kandiah k 0]

Apparently, QF and VN were behind the whole drama of rejecting AK's venture in Vietnam.

 

It is no wonder now !!!!

 

 

Good on Jetstar Pacific and I have a strong feeling that HAN or SGN may just be the stop over

point for JQ on the Australia to Europe route aka Kangaroo route.

 

[Louis L. 2]

Oooo .... icic ... no wonder ak for rejected last time <_ ....... tf will not like this src="%7B___base_url___%7D/uploads/emoticons/default_biggrin.png" alt=":D">

[Keith T 2]

The State Capital Investment Corporation sounds like a government-linked company? If so - that could explain the political interference. I doubt the Vietnamese government would care as much had QF bought into a privately owned carrier. QF might have a history of corporate bullying in Australia simply because it has institutional support over here. I doubt dolling out Chairman's Lounge memberships to Vietnamese politicians would have quite the same effect...

Edited April 14, 2008 by Keith T

[Ryan Soh 3]

So now we are seeing a trend of Pan-regional LCC from...

 

- Tiger Airways

- Air Asia

- Jetstar

- Lion Air

[Peter Smith 1]

The VN gov't may not care if QF invest in a private carrier, however Vietnam, more specifically Ho Chi Minh City is one of the ports being considered for a JQ asian hub for europe bound flights and the weight this carries could certainly put SGN near to, if not on top of the ladder.

[KC Sim 2]

The VN gov't may not care if QF invest in a private carrier, however Vietnam, more specifically Ho Chi Minh City is one of the ports being considered for a JQ asian hub for europe bound flights and the weight this carries could certainly put SGN near to, if not on top of the ladder.

 

I shudder to think what the consequences are for Vietnam Airlines once Jetstar Pacific (Qantas and Jetstar) establishes a foothold in Vietnam and operates through SGN/HAN enroute to and from Europe. I certainly hope that the Vietnamese government has a plan for Vietnam Airlines to be strong enough to face this kind of competition. No doubt Jetstar Pacific is also eyeing trans-Pacific routes given the huge Vietnamese communities in some American cities.

 

If Jetstar was going to name its Vietnamese operation Jetstar Pacific, then why did it neutralise its Jetstar Asia branding previously. In any case, the CEO of Jetstar in Singapore continues to refer to her airline as Jetstar Asia.

 

It should be interesting to see which Asian hub Jetstar chooses for its Australia - Europe routes. SGN, BKK, KUL and SIN are in the running.

 

KC Sim

 

[Peter Smith 1]

KC et al, makes me wonder though if they will actually get the "Pacific" tagged on.

 

Next inline for the Jetstar makeover will most probably be Valuair as soon as the rumoured agreement is signed between Indo and Singers over the proposed budget airline rights between the two countries.

[Ryan Soh 3]

KC et al, makes me wonder though if they will actually get the "Pacific" tagged on.

 

Next inline for the Jetstar makeover will most probably be Valuair as soon as the rumoured agreement is signed between Indo and Singers over the proposed budget airline rights between the two countries.

Very simple, as soon as this issue is revisited again and previous snags resolved, my bet would fall on the disappearance of Valuair as a brand. It should because that poor airline is presently just a shell with empty insides.

[Azri M. 0]

I shudder to think what the consequences are for Vietnam Airlines once Jetstar Pacific (Qantas and Jetstar) establishes a foothold in Vietnam and operates through SGN/HAN enroute to and from Europe. I certainly hope that the Vietnamese government has a plan for Vietnam Airlines to be strong enough to face this kind of competition. No doubt Jetstar Pacific is also eyeing trans-Pacific routes given the huge Vietnamese communities in some American cities.

 

If Jetstar was going to name its Vietnamese operation Jetstar Pacific, then why did it neutralise its Jetstar Asia branding previously. In any case, the CEO of Jetstar in Singapore continues to refer to her airline as Jetstar Asia.

 

It should be interesting to see which Asian hub Jetstar chooses for its Australia - Europe routes. SGN, BKK, KUL and SIN are in the running.

 

KC Sim

 

The problem with any vietnamese airport as a Jetstar hub is, as noted by one of the A.net member, most people transiting to go to Europe/Australia may need to pay a visa from USD50-80 even for a couple of hours transit. Jetstar doesnt tag their luggage all the way to the intended final destination. So you have to go to the immigration (and pay for Visa), check in and then get into immigration again. This may be a turn off to passengers who have to fork out more for a couple of hours transit (if they dont intend to stay in vietnam)

Only those from ASEAN and a few other countries can travel to vietnam without a visa.

 

In contrast, other airports (BKK, KUL, SIN) do not require visa for most of the foreigners, or certainly more than vietnam. For example, KUL and Sin do not require visa to those from ASEAN and those from commonwealth countries - which include UK and Australia. So it presents less problem to transit. BKK I think enjoy similar rule. (Someone correct me if I am wrong)

 

Unless the government relax a bit on the rule or Jetstar tag the bags to the final destinations, then this will be an obstacle for them in choosing SGN as their longhaul hub.

 

My 2 sen

[Peter Smith 1]

If you are travelling on a JQ flight from Europe - Australia, you will have your bags tagged the whole way through, and i've never heard otherwise on other flights that are booked on the same ticket domestically here in Australia.

Edited April 15, 2008 by Liam Gibb

[Azri M. 0]

If you are travelling on a JQ flight from Europe - Australia, you will have your bags tagged the whole way through, and i've never heard otherwise on other flights that are booked on the same ticket domestically here in Australia.

 

An example here is Melbourne-Singapore flight via Darwin with JQ. In Darwin, you need to get your luggage, recheckin, do the immigration in there, and fly to Singapore, this will be the same if you are flying to europe when there is a stopover involve, then you need to do all the checking in process. Don't get confused with its parent company, QF which is a full frill airline offering a full frill service.

[Keith T 2]

Jetstar does provided limited baggage connectivity:

http://www.jetstar.com/au/travel-info/at-t...onnections.html

 

I do see Azri's point. Wouldn't be such an issue for pax on same plane, single flight number one stop services. But it might be problematic if they're intending to do a hub and feeder system out of SGN like SIN because of visa issues. But that's all academic given that we don't know for sure what their policies are in regard to international-international connections or if they're even going to have identical policies in the future.

Edited April 15, 2008 by Keith T

[KK Lee 5]

 

Rule is made to break and change. As Vietnam is opening up and developing SGN as a hub, it is a matter of time visa requirement will be relaxed.

 

To operate a hub in Asia for flights between Oz land and Europe, luggage tag through is essential especially if JQ to keep minimum transit time.

 

 

[Pieter C. 5]

Rule is made to break and change. As Vietnam is opening up and developing SGN as a hub, it is a matter of time visa requirement will be relaxed.

 

Heard the same thing from my VN fiancee: they expect similar (Asean) visa-rules at SGN within two years...

 

[Pieter C. 5]

Vietnam Hopes To Sell More Of Jetstar Pacific To Qantas

 

December 4, 2008

Vietnam's state investment arm SCIC has sought permission from the government to sell an additional stake in its loss-making budget carrier Jetstar Pacific to Qantas Airways, a state-run newspaper reported.

 

SCIC has asked the government to allow Qantas to raise its stake in the low-cost carrier to a maximum 49 percent from 18 percent now, Thursday's Tuoi Tre daily quoted SCIC as saying.

 

The newspaper did not give an estimated value for the additional stake.

 

Qantas acquired the 18 percent stake last April in Vietnam's second-largest carrier, which has accumulated losses of USD$50 million as of this August, Tuoi Tre cited a SCIC report to the government as saying.

 

It attributed the poor performance to high fuel prices earlier this year and foreign exchange fluctuations, noting seat occupancy has averaged above 80 percent.

 

SCIC, which has a 75.8 percent stake in the carrier, said Jetstar Pacific needed USD$30 million to USD$35 million next year to help maintain its services, mainly on domestic routes, the report said.

 

The other stakeholder in Jetstar Pacific is state-run tourism group Saigon Tourist, which has a 6.2 percent interest.

 

SCIC, or State Capital Investment Corporation, was created in mid-2005 to take capital ownership of thousands of the country's state-run enterprises.

 

(Reuters)

 

[alberttky 0]

Jetstar Airways (JQ) has reiterated its commitment to Jetstar Pacific (BL) and dismissed erroneous claims that the Vietnam-based low-cost carrier will be absorbed as part of a proposed airline deal.

 

BL is majority owned by the Vietnamese State Capital Investment Corp. (SCIC) and 27% owned by the Qantas Group (QF).

 

JQ said the misleading claims stem from reports of a proposed ownership swap between SCIC and Vietnam Airlines (VN)—a swap QF has publicly said it supports. QF’s 27% stake would be unaffected by the deal.

 

Jetstar Group CEO Bruce Buchanan said VN would be welcomed as a partner in BL and it remained committed to the Vietnamese market as part of its broader pan-Asian strategy.

 

http://atwonline.com/airports-routes/news/jetstar-reiterates-commitment-vietnam-based-lcc-1209