The Fijian Government is disappointed by the actions and statements of Qantas, and it categorically denies that it has any intention of taking control of Air Pacific Ltd.
The Australian airline withdrew its four representatives on the board of the national flag carrier Air Pacific yesterday.
The Qantas nominated directors include Simon Hickey, the new chief executive of Qantas' international operations, Brett Johnson, the general counsel, and Narendra Kumar, the boss of QantasLink.
Qantas said that the Fiji government had "made clear its intentions to unilaterally take absolute control of Air Pacific'' under the Civil Aviation decree and in the circumstances Qantas believes it is appropriate to remove its four directors.
The Fiji government has issued a statement saying the recent Civil Aviation Decree was designed to ensure that Fiji complies with the Chicago Convention and Bilateral Agreements that require national airlines that fly to other countries to be Aowned and effectively controlled@ by the citizens of that country.
It stated Fiji's laws regarding the ownership and control of its national carrier are now the same or similar to those that exist in many other countries, such as the EU, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.
The Fijian Government states that it has no interest or intention to nationalize any company in Fiji and Qantas is welcome to maintain the same rights as a normal minority shareholder, and dividends will be paid as and when declared.
Story by: Gwen Mc Goon and Sofaia Koroitanoa
