Fiji Airways hopes to broaden Qantas alliance Fiji Airways is hopeful of expanding its alliance with part-owner Qantas in the coming months as part of long-term plans to boost capacity on routes to Australia by almost a third over the next five years. The island nation's airline announced plans today to increase the size of its fleet of aircraft by a quarter by 2017, and strengthen alliances with other airlines. Qantas and Fiji Airways remain in on-going talks following meetings between senior executives before Christmas about expanding the alliance to include greater access to airport lounges and loyalty schemes. Fiji Airways chief executive Stefan Pichler said a closer alliance would help boost revenue streams because it would be able to draw from a larger route network. ""We both agreed we don't exploit the full potential and we can do much better. We are right now discussing it in a detailed level,"" he said. Releasing further details of its long-term plans, Fiji Airways announced that it would boost its aircraft fleet by a quarter by 2017 with the purchase or lease of four new aircraft including a twin-aisle A330 and two Boeing 737s. The airline said the extra planes would help it to boost the number of passengers it could carry by 39 per cent on routes within the Asia-Pacific over the next five years. Fiji Airways has 26 flights a week to Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. It will put on an extra two services a week between the Fiji capital of Suva and Sydney in May, but does not plan to increase frequencies on Australia-Fiji routes beyond that this year. Virgin Australia is the airline's main rival on the Australia-Fiji routes. Mr Pichler said the airline was targeting operating profit of more than $F100 million ($60 million) over four years. It was based on fuel prices and currency exchange rates at current levels. "It is our aim is to be a world-class boutique airline and we must match that with an ambitious but solid financial growth plan which expands on current successes and takes our airline to a new level," he said. Mr Pichler, who is a former Virgin Blue executive, said financial stability and re-investing in the airline's fleet was imperative for its future. He also intends to boost its workforce by about 29 per cent. ""Our growth plan is not a growth plan to grab market share but to grow with the market,"" he said. Qantas has had strained relations with Fiji Airways" main shareholder, the Fiji government. In 2012, Qantas withdrew its four board representatives after the military-controlled government, which has a 51 per cent stake in the airline then named Air Pacific, made clear its intention to take ""absolute control"" Qantas has a 46 per cent stake in the airline, while Air New Zealand also has a small shareholding.