Qantas Airways assumed an offensive stance on Tuesday to fend off suggestions that the struggling national carrier was in the brink of a hostile takeover following its loss of more than $1 billion in market value last week.

According to the Australian Financial Review (AFR), Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce has set up a team today that will thwart an unwelcome buyout bid for the airline, which saw its shares value shrunk after an ominous flag on the company's profit capability.

The team will reportedly be jointly-handled by Macquarie and Citigroup but no confirmation was provided by the two firms, according to Reuters.

Reuters also identified Geoff Dixon, who served as Qantas CEO until 2008, as the likely source of the attempt to secure a sizeable tract of Qantas shares, reportedly big enough to afford the former Qantas executive some room to shakeup the company's internal make-up.

Mr Dixon's group, reports said, is likely to implement more changes on the national carrier, which has been absorbing losses on its international operations mainly due to slow passenger traffic and high jet fuel costs in the past years.

Qantas has recently decided to divide the management operations for its international and domestic services purportedly to effectively address serious concerns on the two business fronts.

The setting up of separate management divisions was hoped to quickly turnaround Qantas' present woes, media reports said, which include the creeping domestic challenges posed by Virgin Australia.

The Richard Branson-owned airline has emerged as Qantas's foremost rival on its local operations following the growth plans that Virgin Australia has unleashed.

But the tactics so far resorted to by Mr Joyce appeared to have failed to please some Qantas investors, buoying likely attempts by Mr Dixon to make a comeback to the airline, which in turn could signal the exit of its current CEO.

Apart from the reported intrusion coming from the Dixon-led consortium, the embattled Mr Joyce must also contend with the alleged bid originating from Dubai-based Emirates.

However, Emirates chief executive Tim Clark told Business Day on Tuesday that there was no interest at all on his company's part to secure an active management role in Qantas.

If ever there would be a partnership with the Australian airline, it would be entirely limited on code-sharing, which was a set-up that the two carriers had previously forged in the early 1990s.

"We are running a whole load of negotiations and looking at other ways of expanding our operations but no equity, no establishment of foreign hubs," the Emirates chief was reported by Business Day as saying.

"We are looking at all sorts of things and possibly we will engage with Qantas at some point to talk about a code share," Mr Clark added.

As of press time, Qantas has yet to comment on the likelihood that it would enter into a code-sharing set up with Emirates.