Richard Branson isn't pulling any punches in the row between Virgin and Qantas over government financial assistance. Virgin is running a series of press ads attacking Qantas and criticising the Government's plans to use taxpayer money to “bail out” the airline.
Full page ads ran over thee weekend in News Corp's Sunday Telegraph.
It's the latest development in the stoush between the airlines. Branson urges international businesses to reconsider investing in Australia if the Government offers assistance to Qantas.
The long-copy ads addressed to the Australian public state: “Should the Australian taxpayer be forced by the Australian Government to prop up the Qantas Group, as Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey is suggesting, business people worldwide should think twice about investing in Australia for fear of such intervention in their sectors.
"Qantas has gone to its shareholders on numerous occasions over the last few years to wage its capacity war against us.
"Now that shareholders have turned that tap off, the company is turning to the Australian taxpayer to try and bail it out."
Qantas refutes Branson's claims it has sought funds from shareholders in recent years.
A Qantas spokesperson said: “There’s widespread agreement that Qantas is at a disadvantage because of current policy settings. We’ve said many times we don’t want a handout – what we want is fair fight, which is very much in the best interests of the travelling public.”
In December Qantas outlined a $2bn cost cutting programme and warned it was likely to post a pre-tax loss of between $250 and $300 million for the second half of the year.
Virgin has form. In 2011 the airline ran ads taking advantage of upheavals at Qantas when the airline's planes were grounded in a union row.
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