24 January, 2007: Qantas says it is close to making a substantial investment in an unspecified Asian carrier, thought possibly to be Vietnamese.
"We are very close to announcing a substantial investment in the region," Qantas chief financial officer Peter Gregg said at an aviation conference in Singapore today, adding "We are in talks with a carrier and there will be an announcement in the next few weeks.
"We don´t intend to license our brand, we intend to take ownership," he added, without naming the target carrier.
Gregg said Qantas would not take a majority stake in the carrier because of regional laws, and said the deal would be completed by the first half of 2007, saying, "It´s not a majority stake due to ownership restrictions, but its going to be an investment in the two-digit millions of US dollars."
