Emirates rules out Qantas equity

Emirates (EK, Dubai Int'l) has ruled out acquiring a stake in struggling partner, Qantas (QF, Sydney Kingford Smith), even if Canberra moves to change existing legislation allowing it to do so. Responding to questions from the West Australian newspaper, Emirates CEO Tim Clark said that his airline was not "a bottomless pit of cash" but did admit that Emirates was watching Qantas "carefully."

The news comes after Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbot, backed calls for changes to legislative restrictions curbing foreign investment in struggling Qantas. "Where we can be helpful we will certainly try to be helpful but as I understand it, what Qantas wants is to be unshackled," Abbott told the Australian Financial Review. "They want to be able to compete with Virgin Australia (VA, Brisbane Int'l) on a level playing field and that ultimately means that changes to the legislative environment in which they operate," he said. Qantas has complained that Virgin Australia's access to foreign funding, via its major shareholders Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi Int'l), Singapore Airlines (SQ, Singapore Changi) and Air New Zealand (NZ, Auckland Int'l), has created an unfair playing field