Qantas franchise to freshen Ansett NZ

By DANIEL RIORDAN

Ansett New Zealand will be rebranded Qantas New Zealand and fly the domestic market as a franchise operation of the Australian carrier.

The changes, announced yesterday, will include all planes and staff swapping their Ansett NZ livery for the Qantas look from next month.

A launch date for the new airline will be given shortly, but is expected to be within the next two months.

Qantas NZ will be operated by Tasman Pacific Airlines of New Zealand, the new name for Ansett NZ, which has been owned since March by a consortium of mainly New Zealand businessmen.

Ansett NZ and Qantas bosses said there would be no layoffs of New Zealand staff at either airline.

Ansett NZ chief executive Kevin Doddrell will remain at the helm with a long-term employment contract.

Qantas' involvement has been a badly kept secret for months - the biggest unknowns have been the details of the operational agreement between the two airlines and the name.

Air NZ spokesman David Beatson said yesterday's announcement came as no surprise, and would make little difference to an already highly competitive domestic market.

Air NZ A shares fell 1c yesterday to 171c and the B shares were down 2c to 213c.

Analysts said Qantas' involvement in the domestic market and the stiffer competition that it would provide other carriers had already been factored into Air NZ's share price.

The initial franchise agreement is for seven years, with rights of renewal after that.

Qantas chief executive James Strong said Qantas had done its homework on Ansett NZ and was happy with the risk of entering the New Zealand domestic market.

Ansett NZ has cumulative losses of more than $200 million over its 13-year history, but has traded more profitably in recent years. Ansett NZ chairman Ken Cowley said the airline was "lean and efficient" after six months of restructuring.

Qantas is hoping more New Zealanders will choose to fly with it internationally, taking advantage of "seamless" travel between the nine New Zealand locations serviced by Ansett NZ and Qantas' international destinations.

Mr Cowley, the one Australian in the consortium, trumpeted the arrival of a "truly New Zealand airline," managed by Kiwis and with majority New Zealand ownership.

Asked how easy it would be to market an airline with an Aussie name and kangaroos on its tail as being Kiwi, Mr Cowley said New Zealanders viewed Qantas as a global airline rather than an Australian one.

Ansett NZ executive deputy chairman David Belcher, the merchant banker who put the consortium together, said the Qantas deal would make Ansett NZ a more robust operator as well as saving it the cost of rebranding itself.

Qantas would help with economic advice and management systems, provide access to the oneworld global airline alliance, and offer Ansett NZ greater buying clout for airline inputs ranging from fuel to uniforms and cutlery.

Mr Doddrell said the Qantas deal would boost Ansett NZ's revenues, but neither he nor Mr Cowley would disclose any figures.

The deal would not mean cheaper airfares, as they were already very low, said Mr Cowley.

Ansett NZ was bought in March from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp by a consortium of businessmen, including Mr Belcher, Sir Clifford Skeggs, Alan Gibbs, Trevor Farmer, Chris Coon, Ian Hendry and Greg Lancaster.

The airline has eight BAe-146 aircraft and six Dash-8 aircraft, 1100 staff and flies around two million passengers a year.

Qantas operates more than 160 flights a week between New Zealand and Australia.

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