Qantas Airways Limited has confirmed that the carrier has agreed to sell its 4.2 per cent stake in Air New Zealand.

The transaction resulted in a sale price of NZ$2.70 (US$2.06) per share. Qantas chief financial officer Peter Gregg said Qantas had acquired the shares in 2002 at a price of NZ$2.225 per share in association with its proposed Tasman Networks Agreement with Air New Zealand, which did not receive regulatory approval.

Mr Gregg said that following the sale of the shares, Qantas "remained comfortable with its previous guidance that its 2006/07 profit before tax was in line with the average of market expectations."

In another development, Qantas Airways and India's Jet Airways have expanded their codeshare arrangements to enable Jet Airways' customers to travel on Qantas flights between Australia and Singapore, connecting to Jet Airways services between Singapore and India, starting from June 25.

"This new agreement complements Qantas' existing A330-300 services which operate three times weekly between Sydney and Mumbai," said Qantas sales and distribution chief Rob Gurney.

"The Australia-India route - a key market for Qantas - continues to grow, reflecting strengthening trade links and increasing numbers of tourists and business people travelling between the two countries."

Said Jet Airways CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schauer said: "With this codeshare partnership, Qantas and Jet Airways will be able to offer travel from points in India to Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide via Singapore and vice versa."

Jet Airways operates daily flights from Singapore to Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai.