Etihad / Virgin

Etihad Airways chief executive James Hogan has labelled Qantas’ attack on the Abu-Dhabi based carrier as “disappointing” and “not representative of the market or the country or the people”.

In June of this year, Qantas Airways chief Alan Joyce expressed fears Etihad’s growing stake in Virgin Australia would undercut profitability on domestic routes and may force the airline to reduce a number of its services.

“Virgin/Etihad will be able to flood the market with capacity until its competition is forced to significantly reduce its own operations or worse”, a briefing paper by Qantas management said.

Mr Hogan, an Australian himself, was displeased with Qantas’ behaviour, according to The Australian.

“It is a great shame the business (Qantas) has used this as a tactic. The UAE has a great relationship with Australia in trade, defence and in a whole range of areas,” he said.

“In other markets, we have not seen these sorts of reactions from national carriers. To see it being used to mask their own real issues is disappointing.”

Etihad gained approval this week from the Foreign Investment Review Board to increase its stake in Virgin from 5 percent to 10 percent.

Mr Hogan said Etihad's investment in Virgin was aimed at improving co-operation on routes and networks.

“What we won't do is get into a position where it means we take control of the business.”

Earlier this year Qantas admitted its international business portfolio was suffering due to industry challenges, Europe’s economic crisis and fuel prices.

In related news, Qantas has been awarded the title of most on-time major domestic airline, for the third consecutive year.

The Federal Government’s Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) released statistics, highlighting Qantas’ almost 85 percent on-time success rate.  

“Qantas’ consistent on-time performance has contributed to Qantas reaching the highest level of customer satisfaction in three years,” Qantas Domestic Chief Executive Officer Lyell Strambi said.