SINGAPORE—Qantas Airways Ltd., Australia’s biggest airline, plans to scrap a total of 22 domestic flights on Friday and Saturday because of a strike by 1,500 engineers seeking higher pay.

Qantas will cut 19 flights today and three on Saturday, ahead of planned strikes on those days by the engineers, it said in an e-mail reply to Bloomberg queries. The carrier and Australian Licensed Engineers’ Association plan to meet June 30 in another attempt to end an 18-month standoff, union secretary Steve Purvinas said.

The disruptions are adding to troubles at Qantas, which is struggling to cope with fuel prices that almost doubled in the past year. The Sydney-based carrier has announced plans to cut routes, ground some planes and trim jobs in a bid to lower costs.

Engineers have stopped work for between four and five hours on Monday and Tuesday, resulting in the cancellations of 80 services on the two days. The airline also scrapped 30 flights on Wednesday and 26 yesterday, it said in the e-mail.

Five airports will be affected by the partial strikes tomorrow and four on Saturday, according to Purvinas. The engineers are required to inspect every Qantas plane as a condition of takeoff from an Australian airport.

The engineers are trying to win a 5- percent wage increase, higher than the 3-percent pay raise offered by the airline, which operates 2,400 domestic flights a week.

“The parties are going to sit down and try to negotiate this,” Purvinas said in a phone interview Thursday. “We have called off our stoppages plan for the early part of next week.”

Qantas said on June 19 it has no intention of changing its policy on wages amid surging fuel prices. The carrier estimated it would spend A$2 billion ($1.9 billion) more on fuel in the year ending June 2009 as fare hikes, ticket levies and hedging failed to control escalating costs.

“They are about to announce record profit,” Purvinas said. “The Australian dollar is up, which makes purchases of aircraft a lot cheaper. A lot of that hasn’t been discussed.”

Qantas has ordered more than 200 aircraft, including 65 Boeing Co. 787s and 20 Airbus SAS A380s, since 2000, as part of its “multibillion-dollar” fleet- renewal program, according to its web site. (Bloomberg)

ICTSI takes over Mindanao port

THE International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) has taken over the operation of Mindanao Container Terminal on Thursday, or about three months after it bagged the contract from the government.

PPA says income grew despite strong peso

THE Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) reported a higher net income for the first three months of the year.

Frontline buys 5 oil tankers for $240M

LONDON—Frontline Ltd., the oil-tanker company whose chairman is Norwegian billionaire John Fredriksen, bought five 1-million-barrel crude carriers for $240 million in total to become the world’s largest owner of such vessels.

Hong Kong may favor shipping lines for new container terminal

HONG KONG—Hong Kong may favor shipping companies over port operators when awarding the rights for a planned container terminal to help secure traffic as competition from cheaper mainland harbors mounts.

Qantas to cancel more flights as engineers plan strike

SINGAPORE—Qantas Airways Ltd., Australia’s biggest airline, plans to scrap a total of 22 domestic flights on Friday and Saturday because of a strike by 1,500 engineers seeking higher pay.