=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SF Gate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2002/09/15/f= inancial1629EDT0020.DTL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday, September 15, 2002 (AP) Qantas no-frills offshoot, Australian Airlines, launched for Asian market (09-15) 13:29 PDT SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Australian Airlines, a no-frills international carrier owned by Qantas, marked its start of business Sunday with the arrival of its first four jets. Australian Airlines will fly the increasingly busy route between Cairns = in north Queensland state and Japan. The initial flights, beginning Oct. 27, will offer daily trips between Cairns-Nagoya and Cairns-Osaka in Japan. Fukuoka, Singapore, Taipei and Hong Kong will be added a month later. Chief executive Denis Adams said he believed the flights would bring in "tens of thousands" of new tourists to Australia yearly. "Bookings are exceeding expectations for a period right through to April next year," Adams said, after the first of four Boeing 767-300s belonging to Australian Airlines touched down in Sydney. The company plans to set up a second Australian base in either Sydney or Melbourne at the beginning of next year, Adams said. He said the company hopes to have 12 planes within two years. Adams said earlier this year that the carrier would not offer cheap seat= s, but could still keep its cost base 30 percent lower than Qantas by simplifying operations. "The fares will be competitive at around the current rates," said Adams. "We've gone into this business to open up markets for Qantas which Qantas had to withdraw from because of poor profit performance." The airline will employ about 250 staff, including 50 pilots and 180 flight attendants. Adams said many of them will be former workers from Ansett, an Australian airline that collapsed last September. =20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2002 AP