Ansett planes take to the air again

By GREG ANSLEY

CANBERRA - Ansett airliners will fly again today under Qantas lease as potential buyers start to emerge for all or part of the collapsed airline.

Qantas has wet-leased 10 Ansett A320 Airbuses and nine Saab airliners from Ansett's NSW subsidiary Hazleton Air, as well as diverting some of its own aircraft from international routes.

Gaps on overseas flights will be plugged by part-owner British Airways.

The deal, negotiated with Ansett administrator Mark Mentha, will employ 1500 of Ansett's 16,000 staff, and will run for an indefinite period under 24-hour notice pending any sale of Ansett's assets.

Five of the A320s will fly between Melbourne and Sydney and the others will meet demand on other trunk routes.

Two of the remaining four Hazleton aircraft will also resume flights by noon today after a $A3 million ($3.58 million) state Government loan, operating on routes between the regional centres of Orange, Griffith, Dubbo and Broken Hill.

The Qantas lease will increase its domestic capacity by 50 per cent and accommodate 80 per cent of the passengers who would previously have flown with Ansett.

The deal followed outrage on Wednesday when Qantas broke off negotiations with Mr Mentha and instead pursued the lease of two fully-staffed Boeing 767 airliners from Air Canada.

The Canadian option was abandoned after Prime Minister John Howard said any lease of foreign aircraft was unacceptable while Ansett's fleet and staff remained grounded.

Under the lease deal, Qantas will return the aircraft if Ansett is sold.

Mr Mentha has received 200 overseas and Australian expressions of interest for all or part of Ansett, although the preference is for a single sale of the collapsed airline's assets.

It is understood the list may include a Victorian consortium including major superannuation funds and possibly trucking magnate Lindsay Fox, but that rumoured interest from Lufthansa and Emirates has evaporated.

Unions plan more rallies at main terminals at noon today to put more pressure on the Australian Government and Air New Zealand to meet in full the $A500 million outstanding in Ansett employees' entitlements.

Yesterday, Air New Zealand continued talks with Mr Mentha, unions and the Industrial Relations Commission.

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