Tiger and Qantas in handling spat
The launch of Tiger Australia in late November was marred only by a baggage handling dispute at Alice Springs. Tiger claims that Qantas used its control over ground handling to block Tiger's entry at the airport. Qantas counters that Tiger failed to make adequate advance arrangements. Tiger was forced to postpone the start of services to Alice Springs until March.
Jetstar moves closer to Asia
Australia's Jetstar is setting up bases on southeast Asia's doorstep with the aim of launching flights into the region. Its new bases at Perth and Darwin will give Jetstar the ability to launch Airbus A320 service to Bali, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and possibly Bangkok. Jetstar's move follows Tiger's entry into Australia, and sets up more head-to-head competition between the low-cost rivals. Jetstar now only operates one A320 route into Asia, a Cairns-Darwin-Singapore service, although it operates A330s on longer-haul Asian routes including to Malaysia and Vietnam.
New Zealand ups airport oversight
The New Zealand government plans more oversight of charges at Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington airports. Charges, which have effectively been unregulated, will in future be monitored by the competition agency. It will compare how airports set charges with non-binding pricing principles and, if it finds stricter controls are needed, it will recommend them. Airlines serving New Zealand, which have long complained about airport charges in the country, are praising the change.
Source: Airline Business
