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What BA - Qantas merger means for India

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BS Reporter New Delhi
Last Updated : Jan 29 2013 | 3:15 AM IST

A possible merger between British Airways and Qantas may not mean much for Indian carriers or fliers. The two airlines, which are founding members of the One World alliance, already enjoy a close working relationship. The Australia-UK route, also called the ‘Kangaroo route’ in the airline industry, is a large-volume route but is too far to fly direct.

So, the two airlines developed Singapore and Hong Kong as hubs for connecting traffic between the UK and Australia. BA flies from the UK to Hong Kong or Singapore and Qantas flies people onward to cities in Australia. In the last few years, Emirates expanded its presence in Australia and flies to many cities Down Under and connects many cities in Europe via Dubai.

“Commercially, it should not make a difference as the two airlines are already strong partners. They have common hubs like Singapore, where they can now have a single station management. Besides, they can draw synergies in buying fuel or planes,’’ said a Jet Airways official. There could, however, be potential upsides for BPO service provider WNS Global Services, which manages the call centre for BA, and some IT majors which work for British Airways.

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First Published: Dec 03 2008 | 12:00 AM IST

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