Cathay Pacific is embroiled in a row with Qantas Airways and China Eastern Airlines about their plans to launch a budget airline in the Chinese territory.
John Slosar, Cathay’s chief executive, said Hong Kong should not grant Jetstar Hong Kong a licence as the airline’s "principal place of business" would not be Hong Kong – as required by law.
Slosar claims it would effectively be controlled by Australian management.
In 2012, Qantas and China Eastern unveiled plans to launch Hong Kong’s first budget airline which would help China Eastern to expand internationally and would provide Qantas with a foothold in the Chinese market, reports the Financial Times.
But opponents said the deal would breach the Basic Law, by which Hong Kong has been governed since Britain returned its former colony to China in 1997.
However, Jetstar Hong Kong says its principal place of business is Hong Kong with five of its seven board members Hong Kong permanent residents and its staff mainly local.
Edward Lau, chief executive of Jetstar Hong Kong, strongly denied Mr Slosar’s suggestion that the document filed with the Australian regulator suggested that the budget carrier would essentially be managed from Australia.
