Quantas could merge with several airlines

SYDNEY, June 26 (UPI) -- Australia's Qantas Airlines could strike a merger deal with Singapore Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific or Air New Zealand, a Quantas official said.

Qantas is likely to merge with another international airline within the next five years, but there will probably always be a Quantas, Quantas Chief Executive Geoff Dixon said Sunday in a television interview.

"I cannot see, despite some of the things being said in the last few weeks, Australia allowing Qantas to disappear, or the brand to disappear," Dixon said.

Airlines have merged but kept their separate brands and corporate structures, as Dutch airline KLM and France's Air France did last year, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.