NSW taxpayers will reap a "profit" from Virgin Blue's decision to expand its operations in Sydney, NSW Premier Morris Iemma says.
The airline has announced it would locate a new training and maintenance facility at Sydney Airport, taking up an undisclosed incentive package agreed with the state government. The $10 million investment is expected to generate 1,000 jobs and comes on top of the airline's decision to base its new international offshoot V Australia in Sydney, which also promises 1,000 new jobs. Premier Morris Iemma said the incentive package for Virgin included payroll, marketing and training incentives. "We make a profit because jobs that otherwise would not be here are coming here, and the company will pay payroll tax," Mr Iemma told reporters. "That's a profit for the people of NSW." The new facility will be home to a fleet of 20 new Virgin Blue jets, in a major expansion of the airline's domestic operations. A site at nearby Botany will be used for the training of pilots and cabin crew. Virgin Blue chief executive Brett Godfrey said the expansion, along with the rollout of V Australia, represented a direct investment of more than $60 million in NSW. "If you consider the investment in infrastructure, particularly the Botany facility, I think ... comfortably in excess of that," Mr Godfrey said. Mr Godfrey said the rollout of V Australia was on schedule, with the first flight due in December.
Also wondering if anyone would think this could help speed up the process of a second airport being built??
Not really new news. I would say that about 200 FC and CC there already with perhaps a target of 500 within the next 6-12 months. Add in the ground staff and engineers already there and 1000+ jobs are filled. I would imagine that there are usually around 15 planes overnight in SYD atm so where are they going to park the other 10? Not much space unless you start kicking out all the corporate jets and night freight.
EP, I understand that the hangers are scheduled for dismantling to facilitate another taxiway. This would permit two way flow of aircraft in the alley adjacent to the Qantas domestic terminal etc.
It would appear that Qld Premier Anna Bleigh doesn't have the same desire as former Premier Peter 'Aviation' Beattie to have Aviation businesses operations based in Queensland/Brisbane.
QF M O. The conversion of one of the "carports" into a poor man's hanger (ie the canvas sides) is evidence that some of the hanger operations have been moved to permit the dismantling for the extra taxiway. I don't know if the plans have changed, but I'm sure that was the intention. A few years ago, they were talking about demolishing the Simulator complex, Admin1/2 etc to allow further terminal expansion. New buildings off Jetbase were to be built to facilitate this. These plans have obviously been shelved/delayed as new simulators are being fitted to the existing building. Cheers GB
Virgin stock is now worth 20 percent of what it was when the stock first listed.
Virgin is going into a period of intense competition as it tries to carve out several new niches domestically (with the E Jet) and internationally (with V) and all while the core business remains under intense pressure from fierce competition.
Now a major capital works expansion will take place in SYD.
It all costs money. All this reminds me of the line from 'Top Gun' where the CAG says to Maverick, something like....'Son you are writing cheques that your body can't cash'
Or perhaps Rod Eddington's quote concerning Ansett being a 'Great airline but a Poor business' is the most appropriate comment for DJ's current business planning and commercial performance.....Dream on Brett!!
Last edited by THE ORACLE : 3rd September 2008 at 04:37.
SYD just seems like such a weird choice for further 'expansion'. The area around SYD is so congested and it's so much more expensive. BNE just has MILES of land thats available and their 'base' is already there.
Obviously hasn't got such a good relationship with Anna Bligh thats for sure.
Maybe a smokescreen to hide the real state of affairs.Anyone have a rough estimate on when the premium economy product is actually going to be used by anyone?Or the live to air tv?QF have pretty much got the grip on the premium traffic with JQ feeding the bucket and spaders.Sorted.
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For what it's worth (very little, most would say)
If the 777 operation is going to be based in SYD, makes sense to put crew and maintenance there too. Whether that's a stretch for Virgin financially is a legitimate question.
Getting a deal out of state premiers is candy and baby stuff. (Feds aren't that hard if the right unions are involved - see car industry)
V-Oz adding flights at SYD is no diff from Delta, Bloggs Airways, or even QF adding flights. It's passenger growth that will determine the speed of development of the "New SYD Airport" (my preferred option). Doesn't matter who carries the passengers.
I think the original plan for the Jet Base assumed expansion (relatively urgently) of the QF terminal. Jetstar slowed that down by using t'other terminal with Virgin. But unobstructed taxy-in, taxy-out is still an issue.
Anyone have a rough estimate on when the premium economy product is actually going to be used by anyone?Or the live to air tv
While I admit the current in-flight product offering that goes with the Premium Econdomy fare has room for improvement, the product is actually becoming more popular as the weeks go by, with more and more corporates flying in Premium Economy.
As for Live2Air, it has apparently seen a huge take up of users lately, and I believe there are changes in the pipeline for this system also, so stay tuned.
Virgins 737 fleet is starting to get a little older and with 12 aircraft overnighting in SYD every night it would make sense to have a hangar to do some extra work.
And if that hangar was big enough to house a 777 then that would be a good thing as well.
V Oz wont want to keep flying empty 777s to Singapore for maintenance. It doesn't make very good financial sense at the present time.
It would also be a good thing to have another large hangar in SYD that is not under the regime of QF. If QF aren't using them they should be open for anyone
SIA only have the VOZ maintenance contract for 5 years, rumour has it that the airline hopes to have around about 12 777s at that time which will make it viable to bring line and base maintenance in house.
Apparently there is going to be a satelite extension built for T2 to provide more gates for DJ, 2 of which gates will be 777 capable... is there any truth to this? And if so, where exactly is the extension going?
Quote"V Oz wont want to keep flying empty 777s to Singapore for maintenance. It doesn't make very good financial sense at the present time."
I think you will find that even though Singapore airlines has the contract for maintenance on the 777 fleet all heavy maintenance will infact be done in L.A
an additional pier is going to be built where the cargo hangers were (before they were pull down, apart from Menzie which I think will come down soon).
So from the security point you should be able to access the new pier turning left and the remaining part of the terminal to the right.
Kitty, very close the master plan indicates two new piers in that direction with virtually all the hangers being removed, one would think its mostly for VB. On the QF side again most hangers and non-terminal buildings gone with additional parking and two way taxi capability. The two terminals being joined as well.
43Inches, what does the master plan show about the heritage listed "original tower" which is in the building where QF Dom gates 16 & 17 are? I thought that the two terminals weren't joined in the past due to restrictions on that section.
If you go to sydney airports website there is a release on the master plan 08' which outlines its wish list for the next 20 years. It is however still in concept/approval stage, as are the VB plans, so it may not turn out like it at all but it at least shows the layout they hope for.
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