Australian airline Qantas has announced its plan to increase its stake in the Vietnam-based budget airline, Jetstar Pacific, to 30 percent by 2010.

Qantas now owns 27 percent of the airline, while the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) has 51 percent. It initially took an 18 percent stake in what was then called Pacific Airlines in 2007.

Bruce Buchanan, managing director of Australia-based Jetstar Airways, said Qantas is committed to continuing to inject capital into Jetstar Pacific and helping to promote the airline industry in Vietnam .

“We are pretty confident and pretty happy with the partnership we have with the Vietnamese government and they are very supportive of what we’re doing up there,” he was quoted as saying by the Australian Business online newspaper.

Buchanan said the capital injection was separate from its investment tranches and was designed to boost the airline's strength and set it up for expanded growth.

Jetstar Pacific managed to cut expenses by 29 percent this year and increased its market share from 14 percent to 23 percent.

Qantas has applied for unlimited capacity between Vietnam and points in Australia , other than flights it is already conducting between the current four big airports, over the next decade as well as approval for Jetstar to add two 177-seat A320 flights between Darwin and Ho Chi Minh City to cater to peak demand.

Jetstar is now conducting four flights a week between Darwin and Ho Chi Minh City./.