Relax - Qantas defends safety of budget carrier Jetstar Pacific

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Qantas defends safety of budget carrier Jetstar Pacific

AFP | Thu, Jan 14 2010

This is following claims that top management had violated maintenance regulations.

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SYDNEY - Flagship Australian carrier Qantas Thursday defended the safety of its Vietnamese budget airline Jetstar Pacific, following claims that top management had violated maintenance regulations.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) had issued a report identifying a "number of administrative and quality issues related to the airline's operations".

But Joyce said some of the problems had been addressed and subsequent routine and independent audits - the most recent in October 2009 - had cleared the carrier of any safety worries.

"We remain confident in our investment in Jetstar Pacific and confident in the airline's total commitment to safety," Joyce said in a statement.

"(The October) audit concluded there were no safety concerns with Jetstar Pacific's operations and that the airline met regulatory requirements," he added.

"We will work with our Vietnamese partners on the Jetstar Pacific Board as they continue to liaise with the CAAV."

Official Vietnamese media on Tuesday said the CAAV found three Jetstar officials had made "systematic mistakes" in monitoring maintenance work, which put flights at risk.

The faults related to personnel appointments, hangars, equipment and the licences and certificates of maintenance technicians, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

It identified the managers as former general director Luong Hoai Nam and two unnamed foreigners who headed the airline's maintenance and technical quality sections.

Hanoi police arrested Nam last week for alleged neglect of responsibility in the performance of his duty causing "serious consequences", local media reports said.

He resigned from his post late last year, they said.

Two Australians working as senior employees of Jetstar Pacific have been ordered not to leave Vietnam as they help authorities explain how the budget carrier lost 31 million US dollars in fuel hedging.

Jetstar Pacific, formerly Pacific Airlines, is 27 percent owned by Australia's Qantas Group. The largest shareholder is the Vietnamese government.