Newsmakers
Jetstar loses bid to launch budget carrier in Hong Kong
July 1st 2015
Almost three years after the Qantas Group announced it would launch joint venture carrier, Jetstar Hong Kong, the Hong Kong government has said the proposed budget airline does not qualify as a local airline. Read More »
 |
After four months of deliberation, the Air Transport Licensing Authority (ATLA) decided “that Jetstar Hong Kong does not have its principal place of business in Hong Kong and hence refuses its application for a licence”.
Jetstar Hong Kong CEO, Edward Lau said; “Jetstar Hong Kong is extremely disappointed by the decision. We will take time to review it and consider our next steps. We genuinely believe that Hong Kong is Jetstar Hong Kong’s principal place of business. The carrier is chaired by Hong Kong business woman, Ms Pansy Ho, with a local CEO and management team who lead and manage the business.”
Cathay Pacific Airways director corporate affairs, James Tong said: “It is the right decision for Hong Kong. As we said during the ATLA hearings [in January], any airline with its principal place of business not in Hong Kong does not comply with Article 134 of the Basic Law. The ATLA decision ensures that important Hong Kong economic assets, its air traffic rights, are used for the benefit of the people and economy of Hong Kong.”
The 153-page ATLA decision said: “Even though there is no dispute that the day-to-day management would be conducted in Hong Kong and managed by the Jetstar Hong Kong CEO in Hong Kong, as the cases unequivocally indicate, that is not sufficient to establish and meet any principal place of business criteria.”
“The airline has to have independent control and management in Hong Kong, free from directions or decisions elsewhere.”
ATLA said Jetstar Hong Kong “cannot make its decisions independently from that of the two foreign shareholders (Qantas and China Eastern Airlines)” in critical matters such aircraft purchases, route planning, senior management and its business strategy. If the application had been approved, Jetstar Hong Kong would have been the fifth airline to be set up in Hong Kong after Cathay Pacific Airways, Dragonair, Hong Kong Airlines and HK Express.
