SYDNEY, Australia (AP)- Air New Zealand will take full control of Australia's second-largest airline, Ansett, by buying News Corp.'s 50 percent stake in the carrier for about $430 million. The deal, announced Friday subject to approval by regulatory authorities, catapults Air New Zealand into a strong position in the closely regulated Australian aviation market.

``We fully expect that the integrated strengths of Ansett and Air New Zealand will create an increasingly important aviation force in this part of the world,'' News Corp. chairman and chief executive Lachlan Murdoch said in announcing the deal.

Combined, Air New Zealand and Ansett Australia will be around 85 percent the size of Australia's largest carrier, Qantas. On its own, Air New Zealand was about one third the size of Qantas. Air New Zealand is to make a cash payment of $367 million initially, followed by a second payment of $63 million.

The deal ends nearly a year of uncertainty over the future of the stake held by News Corp., the global media-entertainment conglomerate headed by Rupert Murdoch.

Air New Zealand bought its 50 percent share in 1996 for $270 million, and had a right to buy the other half. It used that right to prevent Singapore Airlines from purchasing the New Corp. stake last year. The deal also scuttles the speculative proposal by Ansett staff to buy the News Corp. stake.