With the recent grounding of Qantas planes the announcement of a new airline is likely to be good news for business travellers.

Hoping to make a splash in the budget travel market, Air Australia should be starting operations later this year, according to its parent company Strategic Airlines. In an official statement the company announced: “Strategic Airlines will retire its name, red white and blue brand and full service business model commencing from 15 November 2011 to become Air Australia, a new international and domestic low-cost carrier. The change… will signal the start of heightened domestic competition and lower international fares, initially to Bali (Indonesia), Phuket (Thailand) and Hawaii.”

The new airline’s first route is anticipated to be Brisbane-Melbourne. In the Asia-Pacific region it’s not the only new airline to be launching – Singapore has unveiled its Scoot budget carrier, servicing long haul destinations.