Ansett put into voluntary receivership
Ansett Airlines has been placed into voluntary receivership by Air New Zealand, its owner, after Qantas Airways quit talks to buy Australia’s debt-burdened second-ranked carrier.
After the Qantas rejection Air NZ suffered a further knock-back when the Australian government refused to underwrite a restructuring of Ansett’s operations into a lower-cost airline called Ansett 2.
Margaret Jackson, Qantas chairperson, said: “While we would have liked to have assisted in keeping Ansett flying in some form, the implications for our own balance sheet and future profitability must come first.”
Some analysts pointed to the dangers of Qantas taking on Ansett’s mounting debt, which is losing A$1.3m (US$672,000) a day. They said Qantas may be able to pick up parts of Ansett once the airline goes into liquidation.
With the grounding of aircraft worldwide following the terrorist attack on the US, a number of analysts said it was unlikely another international airline would come to Ansett’s rescue.
Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Blue, Australia’s third carrier, said it was still interested in parts of Ansett’s regional businesses.
Financial Times
