=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/n/a/2006/03/12/financial/= f155110S38.DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday, March 12, 2006 (AP) Australia's OzJet Suspends Operations (03-12) 15:51 PST SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- OzJet, a business-class only airline in Australia, has suspended all scheduled flights amid tight competition and lagging sales less than four months after taking to the air. In a statement released late Sunday, OzJet Chairman Paul Stoddart said t= he company could no longer compete in Australia and would shift its focus to charter flights. "Unfortunately, for whatever reasons, we have not had the support we needed to operate in that environment against big, established carriers," said Stoddart, the former owner of the Formula One race team Minardi. "It's very, very disappointing, particularly, I'm sure, for those people who had started traveling regularly with us ... and many of our very diligent and loyal employees," he said. Stoddart said the company will keep at least two of its four Boeing 737 aircraft and about 30 percent of its staff for charter flights. OzJet has struggled since it launched late last year. Just one week after it began flying its sole route between Sydney and Melbourne, the airline was forced to slash prices and revise its flight schedule amid lagging sales. --------------------------------------------------------------------= -- Copyright 2006 AP