Qantas Airways chief executive Alan Joyce has brushed off any threat from changes in the Virgin Australia share register to his airline's position in the domestic and international market. 
China's HNA Aviation on Tuesday agreed to buy a 13 per cent share in Virgin through a $159 million share placement to bolster its balance sheet, and Virgin has announced plans to fly to Hong Kong and Beijing from next year as a result.
Qantas flies to Hong Kong from Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne and to Shanghai from Sydney. It has partnerships with two of the three large state-owned carriers, China Eastern and China Southern. 
"I would rather have those partners and the relationships we have created," Mr Joyce said in reference to HNA on the sidelines of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) annual meeting in Dublin. "We think our position in China and Asia is very, very strong given we have a massive network in Australia. We will play our own game."
Mr Joyce said the indications so far were also that Virgin would act rationally in the domestic market, which along with the Qantas loyalty program comprises about 70 per cent of the airline's business.
Qantas in   April warned of tougher conditions in the domestic market due to falling consumer confidence and the upcoming federal election that led it to cut capacity. Virgin has made similar moves to help shore up falling airfares at a time when its balance sheet is stretched.
"When it comes to the competition, we want a stable competitive environment where the competition is acting commercially," Mr Joyce said. "I think it is very clear from what the shareholders in our competitor have said is that they want a return. There is nothing anybody is saying which is that the competitive dynamic is going to change and that [Virgin] is not going to be a commercial operation."
Virgin's major shareholders include Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines, Etihad Airways and Richard Branson's Virgin Group. HNA's arrival on the register will dilute their stakes, and Virgin is undertaking a capital structure review that could result in it raising up to another $800 million.
Mr Joyce said the domestic capacity cuts by Qantas and Virgin had helped to halt a decline in airfares and the percentage of seats filled. He said Qantas was hoping demand would rebound after the federal election on   July 2, but if that was not the case, Qantas would keep cutting capacity if necessary.
In the international market, Qantas is facing increased price competition on the trans-Pacific route to North America. Partner American Airlines has been offering lower fares than Qantas and the pair are unable to share revenue or harmonise prices from the US end of the route because the approvals process from US regulators has dragged on for a year without resolution.
Mr Joyce said the US market was still a good market for Qantas despite the increased level of competition. He added the Sydney-San Francisco route, resumed by Qantas in   December, was outperforming expectations.
From the second half of next year, Qantas will begin receiving the first of eight new Boeing 787-9 aircraft that could be deployed on existing and new routes. Mr Joyce said Qantas would begin talks with airports and governments about incentives available to help open non-stop routes such as Sydney-Chicago, Melbourne-Dallas, Brisbane-Dallas and Perth-London.
He said the interior of the aircraft would feature large business and premium economy class sections as well as generous legroom in economy class to ensure it had the range to be able to fly such long routes.
Qantas is also in talks with Boeing about the design of the 777-8X aircraft, which could have enough range for Sydney-New York. "There is a bit of tweaking to the aircraft needed to get it there," Mr Joyce said. But he added no decision had yet been made on whether Qantas would ultimately purchase the aircraft.
*The reporter travelled to Dublin as a guest of Airbus and IATA