Singapore Airlines has taken out a 10% stake in Virgin Australia.
The deal, valued at A$105m, has been approved under the Australian Government's Foreign Investment Policy.
Virgin and SQ already operate a partnership with sharing of flights, frequent flyer schemes and reciprocal access to lounges, and Virgin Australia today bought a 60 percent controlling interest in Singapore Airlines' subsidiary Tiger Airways Australia.
“Singapore Airlines is an important strategic alliance partner of Virgin Australia and we are very pleased to have their support as an investor," Virgin Australia Chief Executive Officer John Borghetti said in a statement, but denied that the additional investment would grant SQ a seat on Virgin Australia's board.
"We believe this investment demonstrates their confidence in our strategy and it enables Virgin Australia to fast-track its growth plans.”
Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong praised Borghetti's "ongoing transformation at Virgin Australia, which has already resulted in a more competitive aviation market in Australia."
The holding puts Singapore Airlines on an equal footing with Etihad, which snapped up a 10% stake in Virgin Australia in September this year.
Other primary stakeholders in Virgin Australia include Sir Richard Branson’s 26% shareholding and a 19.9% stake held by Air New Zealand.
Related news: Virgin Australia purchases Perth-based regional airline Skywest.
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David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
10 Mar 2011
Total posts 526
So 76% of Virgin Australia is now overseas owned (SQ 10% + EY 10% + Branson 26% + NZ 19.9%)?
Perhaps Virgin were a bit quick to include "Australia" in their titles...
Singapore Airlines - KrisFlyer
08 Aug 2012
Total posts 31
I believe VAH split itself into 2 organisations - VAH and VAIH - back in Feb 2012. The domestic part has no restrictions on 'foreign' ownership. The international part would still be complying with the 49% foreign ownership.
So BOTH can technically be called Australian . According to Australian Aviation Law.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
23 Mar 2012
Total posts 211
the main word there is 'technically'...pity Qantas is not able to do something similar.
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