Virgin 'Out of Bed' with Ansett 11
News reports are stating that Virgin has denied any plans for a merger or joint activity with Ansett 11.
This means that from 28 February if all goes to plan then there will be three airlines competing for a limited market share on the main routes such as Sydney-Melbourne.
These sector fares are currently selling at $AUS88 and you dont have to be a wizard to work out that at this level, it is unprofitable to operate a much less than 90% loads. The Administrators for Ansett have admitted that Ansett has been losing at least $US1 Million a week trying to compete with Qantas by charging these type of fares.
It can surely be only a matter of time before Virgin Blue's profits slump or Ansett 2 is forced out of business.......
Virgin must be pretty confident to have walked away from an Ansett tie up.