Jetstar Hong Kong hopes Shun Tak deal will secure licence
The low-cost carrier (LCC) joint venture between China Eastern Airlines and Qantas' Jetstar Group is now more confident that with a local shareholder the government will recognise it as a Hong Kong-designated carrier and give it a licence.
Jetstar Hong Kong's long wait to receive an operating licence may be coming to an end after the start-up took Stanley Ho's Shun Tak conglomerate aboard as an investor.
When the two carriers set up the joint venture in March 2012 they were so determined they would receive their licence without getting a Hong Kong investor on board that they had planned to be in service this month with three aircraft. But an application for the operating licence from the Air Transport Licensing Authority was delayed unexpectedly by more than six months. The venture's confidence was replaced by uncertainty which made Jetstar Hong Kong more eager to get a local investor on board.
According to the Basic Law, the definition of a Hong Kong-designated carrier is ambiguously defined as "having a principal place of business" in the city. From an operational perspective, it means the firm's board is in Hong Kong and independent to its parent.
In practice, officials said this means the applicant had to have a local investor. They referred to the shareholding structure of Cathay Pacific Airways, which has Swire Pacific and Air China as its major shareholders, said a source from Jetstar Hong Kong.
Over the past six months, Jetstar Hong Kong has been in talks with several local investors.
