Qantas ups pressure on V Australia

Qantas is putting the heat on the Blue's new long-haul operation, V Australia, by announcing that Jetstar wants to fly to Fiji from Sydney from April next year.

In its application for 1491 seats on the route each week, Qantas says that "Jetstar is planning to operate these services seven times per week using a one-class A321-231 aircraft configured with 213 seats".

Qantas wants some of the 1267 seats that V Australia has applied to the IASC for.

The IASC has asked both airlines to make submissions supporting their cases by 8 September; and has invited any other intersted parties to also make submissions by 23 September.

The commission will then enter deliberations before announcing a decision on allocation of the capacity.

There has long been speculation that Qantas is unhappy with the treatment it has received from the Fijian authorities in relation to its shareholding in Air Pacific. Does this Jetstar move announce its intention to quit that relationship? 

It will also be interesting to see what action Qantas takes as the date approaches for V Australia's launch of Johannesburg services next year.