Qantas plans Asian airline

Photo / Mark Mitchell

Australia's Qantas Airways plans to establish a new premium airline based in Singapore as part of plans to grow its operations in Asia and cut costs, reports say.

An internal team at Qantas has revived a plan to set up a full-service subsidiary carrier in Asia with up to 20 aircraft based in Singapore operating under a new airline licence, the Australian Financial Review newspaper reported, citing unnamed sources.

The airline would be called "Qantas Asia" or something similar to match Qantas' low-cost subsidiary Jetstar Asia, which is also based in Singapore. The move could anger unions which are threatening industrial action at the carrier.