After media reports yesterday that said Jetstar was getting involved in a deal with Malaysian airline AirAsia, which would turn Avalon into an international airport, in a local paper report Jetstar has denied the deal with Jetstar, with Corporate Affairs General Manager Simon Westaway saying that senior executives at Jetstar had held talks with Malaysian-based budget airline AirAsia but were not entering into any agreements, adding, “We are not moving forward on the discussions nor will we be commenting on what took place with the discussions.”
Malaysia’s Transport Minister Chan Kong Choy was yesterday reported to have said that negotiations were underway for a new low-cost route to be set up between Malaysia and Australia, saying, “An Australian low-cost operator will be operating (from Kuala Lumpur)”, adding, “We are negotiating now so if things go on fine you can see a low-cost carrier from Australia by second half of the year.”
Mr Chan was also reported to have confirmed that the Australian carrier was Jetstar and that in exchange for Jetstar flying out of Kuala Lumpur, AirAsia would fly from Avalon.
Mr Westaway refused to say if the airline had been surprised by Mr Chan’s comments, adding, “We won’t comment about what AirAisa are up to”. “While Avalon has the capacity to take large aircraft, Jetstar was not currently considering using it as an international terminal and that anyone who knew the bricks and mortar of the airport knew it was not equipped with immigration or custom services.”
He added, “At the moment we see Avalon airport as a domestic facility”.
In balancing the two sets of comments, one has to wonder why Jetstar would even consider entering into an agreement with an Asian carrier, when they are busy running and growing their own international operation.
We await the outcome with interest!
Report by The Mole
