State Government working to replace Ansett Mark ll capacity

28/2/02
The State Government will work in any way it can to minimise the impact on Western Australia of the failure to resurrect Ansett Airlines.
Premier Geoff Gallop said the Government had been addressing the Ansett issue since the airline ceased operating last September, and this had helped a number of regional services in WA to be restored.
"We will now turn our attention to replacing the capacity that Ansett Mark II had coming into Perth," Dr Gallop said.
"This is critical for the tourism industry, as the low fares available on Ansett Mark II were attracting significant numbers of tourists to WA.
"I intend to seek assurances from Qantas that they will assist in replacing the lost passenger capacity into Perth, and will not relocate any aircraft from WA to the Eastern States in order to increase east coast services.
"I will explore with Qantas the possibility of them working with the WA Tourism Commission to develop leisure-based fare packages to promote tourism to WA, particularly regional destinations.
"I will propose that Qantas divert some international flights through Perth as another avenue of replacing lost capacity.
"We are also in negotiations with Virgin Blue to ascertain if they are able to provide replacement capacity into Perth."
Dr Gallop said Ansett Mark II employed 100 staff in Perth. A number of pilots and cabin crew had accepted offers to relocate to the Eastern States to take up employment with the airline.
"I am very concerned for these employees and the uncertainty this has created," he said.
"The State Government will do all it can to assist displaced Ansett staff with job replacement assistance and, if necessary, counselling.
"I will also be seeking assurances from the Prime Minister that the Commonwealth will ensure that the Administrator will fund a full recovery of Ansett employees' entitlements, and guarantee ticket refunds for passenger bookings beyond March 4."
Ansett Mark II are providing four 146-seat Airbus A320 services each day to Melbourne and four to Sydney.
Ansett's WA subsidiary, Skywest, was recently purchased by a local consortium.
A number of Ansett's regional routes have been taken up by other operators and Qantas have increased their capacity to key destinations such as Karratha and Broome.
Premier's office: 9222 9475