Qantas Airways wants to corner the high end of the Asian market as it moves more aggressively in the region in the near term.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said at the Aviation Outlook Conference in Sydney that the company is now embarking on some important changes in order to capture a niche in the rapidly growing Asian markets.

"Jetstar's enormous growth pointed the way to how Qantas - or a Qantas-owned, Asian-based carrier - could tap into the Asian market for business and mid and upper-market travellers.

"We have enormous opportunity to leverage Qantas excellence in brand management, aviation safety and other skills," Mr Joyce said.

The increasing incomes of Asians particularly in China and India has prompted airline companies like Qantas to cater to their needs.

"Research on affluent Chinese travellers, for example, shows they are strongly influenced by prestige brands and considerations of safety," he noted.

Pilots, engineers concerns

Mr Joyce also addressed the company's pilots and engineers, with whom the management has an ongoing dispute over salaries and benefits.

He said Qantas was competing against airlines with overheads up to 25 percent lower.

He clarified a demand by the pilots to extend their pay and conditions to Jetstar flights with a Qantas codeshare could not happen.

"To pay Qantas rates to Jetstar pilots would simply drive up ticket prices, set precedents for other staff salaries and make Jetstar unviable," he said.

And he said Qantas maintenance and repair costs were "among the least efficient and most expensive in the world".