Chew said he had not expected comments from Australian Prime Minister John Howard and Singapore Transport Minister Yeo Chow Tong last month canvassing the prospect of a merger between the fierce regional rivals.

"I had the sense a bit of being told that I was going to get married and I didn't know about it, but my own take is that the industry is due for consolidation," he told Australia's Channel Nine television.

Without naming any potential partners, Chew said a merger was appealing in the current environment but airlines' status as national icons made such link-ups harder than they were in industries such as banking and car manufacturing.

"Our industry is the one where strict lines are drawn across national boundaries and therefore the idea of merger is an appealing one in economic philosophy but it's an idea before its time unfortunately," he said.

Chew said Qantas and SIA could examine the prospect of sharing maintenance facilities for the new Airbus A380 super-jumbo.

"It makes sense that neither of us duplicate facilities but rather put our heads together and see where we can have joint efforts and share facilities and thereby spread costs," he said.

Yeo said Qantas and SIA should be encouraged to talk to each other.

"I don't see the two airlines agreeing to a merger at this point of time because there are many, many issues to be discussed," Yeo told Channel Nine.

"But hopefully as time passes Australian regulators will appreciate better what's happened on the international scene and the fact that the Australian market is actually quite competitive.

"They may agree to a merger between Qantas and one of the other airlines serving Australia, whether it's SIA or another airline."


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