Troubled Jetstar Asia to scale down fleet
By Scott Rochfort
April 5, 2006
QANTAS'S dream of grabbing a sizeable chunk of the low-cost Asian aviation market is looking increasingly shaky, with its 44.5 per cent owned Jetstar Asia seeking a fresh $S36 million ($31.2 million) capital injection.
The troubled Singapore airline is also looking to cut back its fleet of eight A320s to six by the end of the year in order to rein in its ballooning losses.
Singapore's Straits Times newspaper reported that Jetstar Asia's holding company, Orangestar Investment Holdings, sent a note to its shareholders proposing the capital-raising. The airline's other key shareholder includes the Singapore Government's investment arm, Temasek Holdings.
The note cited the airline's inability to gain landing rights into key markets and the "aggressive competitive landscape with new entrants and capacity growth".
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