Qantas Airways puts on hold its Asian hub plan

The plans to operate Qantas flights out of Malaysia or Singapore are on hold now. Alan Joyce, Chief Executive Officer of Qantas Airways, revealed that his company’s plans to set up a full-service carrier in Asia have been put back by up to three years as the carrier has failed to clinch a deal to build a hub there.

Joyce indicated that a dialogue is still on with both Singapore and Malaysian authorities to arrive at an agreement, but this might take some years to finally conclude this.

Earlier, Qantas Airways had announced plans to set up a base either in Malaysia or Singapore in August, and hire workers at a lower cost so that it was able to offer a greater choice of connecting flights in the fastest growing aviation market and stem international losses. However, the airline’s talks with Malaysian Airline System Bhd collapsed since both the companies were unable to agree on commercial terms.