AUSTRIAN Airlines has divested its 8% stake in listed charter carrier Alliance Airlines, with speculation its shareholding is part of the 19.9% unveiled as being in Qantas hands late last week (TD 01 Feb).
A “substantial shareholder notice” lodged yesterday with the ASX indicates Austrian Airlines AG held just over 10 million shares in Alliance until last Fri – the same day Qantas blindsided the airline with the revelation it had acquired a significant stake.
Alliance Airlines works closely with QF rival Virgin Australia, under a charter partnership approved by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (TD 18 May 2018).
Alliance is also set to operate VA’s services between Brisbane and Port Moresby using Fokker 100 aircraft from later this month, in turn freeing up a Virgin 737-800 to operate on the Tasman.
Source: traveldaily