"The time was right for developing a long term, future forward partnership with Qantas, the iconic Australian airline, " Clark said.
ARINC, a technology firm, says it plans to launch in-air services with Qantas and a second, unnamed Asian airline.
ECONOMIST: The use of mobile phones on planes moves another step closer
At present, a foreign airline can only own 25% of Qantas, rising to 35% for a group of overseas carriers.
Some governments cannot resist the urge to protect their national champions from foreign ownership, but Australia's Prime Minister John Howard is being distinctly noninterventionist following overseas interest in Qantas, his country's biggest and oldest airline.
The carrier, Jetstar Hong Kong, will be the first low-cost airline based in Hong Kong, according to Qantas.
But a foreign takeover of the airline looks tricky, since the law states Qantas must be at least 51% Australian-owned.
Both Qantas -- known as the "Flying Kangaroo" airline -- and BA are partners in the Oneworld Global Alliance, an umbrella which links 10 of the world's carriers, including American Airlines and Cathay Pacific.
We've got good news for frequent fliers in Europe and Australia: Qantas and Ryanair (this author's personal fav airline for obvious reason) have announced their respective additions of picocells for in-flight calling, texting, and presumably (eventually) also data.
ENGADGET: Ryanair, Qantas (finally) adding in-flight calling!
Qantas said China Eastern Airlines is China's second largest airline in terms of passengers carried.
Qantas just upped the ante for its Australian counterparts Jetstar and Virgin in the airline tablet wars.
Qantas, which has its headquarters in Sydney, is the second-oldest airline in the world and marked its 90th anniversary last year.
The grounding was a flashpoint in a long-term battle between Qantas and unions representing pilots and engineers working for the Australian domestic and international airline.
It is also expected to launch operations of budget airline Jetstar Japan in July, which is a joint venture with Australia's Qantas and industrial and finance group Mitsubishi.
Qantas has been embroiled in a bitter labor dispute over pay cuts and job protections that resulted in the airline shutting down earlier this year. (Government officials ordered it back into service.) The year-old airport system required extensive retraining of staff, but didn't result in layoffs, which the union confirms.
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