Final call for Australia's Ansett


About 16,000 Ansett staff are expected to lose their jobs

Staff and wires

SYDNEY, Australia -- Australia's Ansett airlines ceases operations at midnight Monday, ending 66 years of history for what was once the country's second biggest carrier.

Hopes of salvaging the crippled airline were finally dashed last week when Australian businessmen Lindsay Fox and Solomon Lew withdrew their takeover bid.

Administrators are now breaking up the assets of the collapsed airline and a handful of buyers are circling the carcass of the former carrier.

Among those hoping to take up some of the airline's aircraft, terminal facilities and passengers is cut-price carrier Virgin Blue, which is looking to expand into the void left by Ansett's collapse.

However, rival flagship airline Qantas says it is not expecting a quick lift in profits following Ansett's downfall saying it had already factored in the airline's weakened condition in advance.

The final flight for Ansett, leaving from the Western Australian city of Perth late on Monday night, ends months of turbulence for the troubled airline.

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Last year several of its jets were grounded over safety fears and in September the entire fleet was grounded by then-owner Air New Zealand under the weight of more than $1 billion in debt.

However, administrators returned the carrier to operations, even though it was losing several million dollars a week, in the hope of selling it on to new owners.

Out of work


Fox and Lew said they had received no support from the government for their bid

The Fox-Lew led Tesna consortium had put forward plans to relaunch the airline with a much reduced staff and new aircraft, but they withdrew from negotiations last Wednesday citing lack of government support for their proposals.

The collapse means about 3,000 of Ansett's staff who had been promised jobs with the revived airline will have to look elsewhere for work.

In total some 16,000 staff are expected to lose their jobs as a result of the airline's closure.

Virgin Blue, which was launched in 2000 by British tycoon Sir Richard Branson, has suggested it may take on up to 1,000 of Ansett's staff to facilitate its own expansion plans.

A skeleton Ansett staff is expected to stay on for the coming weeks to carry out maintenance on aircraft, refund tickets and help out with the auctioning off of the carrier's assets.

Among items up for sale by administrators are aircraft, millions of spare parts, ground equipment, terminals and other buildings and the company's Melbourne HQ.

Australia's two main surviving domestic carriers, Virgin Blue and Qantas, have vowed to keep fares competitive following the Ansett collapse and competition regulators have said they see no reason as yet to consider capping ticket prices.