Wirraway
16th Jun 2004, 19:38
Thurs "The Australian"
Second Virgin route ignores Sydney
By Steve Creedy, Aviation writer
June 17, 2004
PACIFIC Blue has snubbed Sydney Airport for its new flights to Fiji and Vanuatu, saying high charges and uncertainty about policies at Australia's biggest international gateway made Brisbane and Melbourne better choices.
The airline yesterday announced Sydney would be side-stepped on its flights to Fiji a day after it snubbed the airport on Vanuatu flights, at a time when tensions are rising between airlines and Sydney Airport Corp Ltd.
The move means Sydneysiders used to non-stop overseas flights will have to connect through Brisbane if they want to take advantage of Pacific Blue fares to the holiday destinations.
Passengers from Adelaide, Canberra, Perth, Darwin, Hobart, Launceston, Townsville, Cairns and Rockhampton will also be able to directly connect through Melbourne, or Brisbane.
Pacific Blue announced this week it would offer launch fares as low as $199 on services to Vanuatu starting September 20, and to Fiji beginning September 9.
It said yesterday that everyday fares on its three times a week Brisbane to Nadi services would start at $229, and $299 on the Melbourne route, which begins September 10, also three times a week.
Virgin said yesterday that its decision was purely commercial and not a punitive response to existing tensions with Sydney Airport.
"Brisbane and Melbourne clearly offered us better facilities at a more reasonable price," Virgin Blue spokesman David Huttner said.
"The airports we're flying to for international services have reached long-term commercial agreements with us that ensure we won't start a service today and be taken advantage of tomorrow.
"If we had the same type of deal with Sydney, certainly they would be getting the same level of support."
Mr Huttner said that Sydney Airport had more than doubled its charges in the past four years and slugged the airline with a wide variety of hidden costs and add-ons.
At the same time, the federal Government had confirmed Virgin had dropped air fares by 30 per cent.
But SACL general manager of aviation business development Greg Timar denied airport charges were behind Virgin's decision and predicted the carrier would ultimately fly from Sydney. He said Mr Huttner's comments were linked to the airline's attempts to get domestic landing fees at the airport re-regulated.
Political and airline economics considerations made the choice of Brisbane and Melbourne clear-cut.
"The easiest start for Virgin is not to go into the most heavily serviced market, which is Sydney," Mr Timar said.
"It's just cheeky of them to suggest that the reason why they've done it is charges ... given what I see of where the capacity and where the opportunity might be."
Pacific Blue has also applied for capacity to New Caledonia.
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Second Virgin route ignores Sydney
By Steve Creedy, Aviation writer
June 17, 2004
PACIFIC Blue has snubbed Sydney Airport for its new flights to Fiji and Vanuatu, saying high charges and uncertainty about policies at Australia's biggest international gateway made Brisbane and Melbourne better choices.
The airline yesterday announced Sydney would be side-stepped on its flights to Fiji a day after it snubbed the airport on Vanuatu flights, at a time when tensions are rising between airlines and Sydney Airport Corp Ltd.
The move means Sydneysiders used to non-stop overseas flights will have to connect through Brisbane if they want to take advantage of Pacific Blue fares to the holiday destinations.
Passengers from Adelaide, Canberra, Perth, Darwin, Hobart, Launceston, Townsville, Cairns and Rockhampton will also be able to directly connect through Melbourne, or Brisbane.
Pacific Blue announced this week it would offer launch fares as low as $199 on services to Vanuatu starting September 20, and to Fiji beginning September 9.
It said yesterday that everyday fares on its three times a week Brisbane to Nadi services would start at $229, and $299 on the Melbourne route, which begins September 10, also three times a week.
Virgin said yesterday that its decision was purely commercial and not a punitive response to existing tensions with Sydney Airport.
"Brisbane and Melbourne clearly offered us better facilities at a more reasonable price," Virgin Blue spokesman David Huttner said.
"The airports we're flying to for international services have reached long-term commercial agreements with us that ensure we won't start a service today and be taken advantage of tomorrow.
"If we had the same type of deal with Sydney, certainly they would be getting the same level of support."
Mr Huttner said that Sydney Airport had more than doubled its charges in the past four years and slugged the airline with a wide variety of hidden costs and add-ons.
At the same time, the federal Government had confirmed Virgin had dropped air fares by 30 per cent.
But SACL general manager of aviation business development Greg Timar denied airport charges were behind Virgin's decision and predicted the carrier would ultimately fly from Sydney. He said Mr Huttner's comments were linked to the airline's attempts to get domestic landing fees at the airport re-regulated.
Political and airline economics considerations made the choice of Brisbane and Melbourne clear-cut.
"The easiest start for Virgin is not to go into the most heavily serviced market, which is Sydney," Mr Timar said.
"It's just cheeky of them to suggest that the reason why they've done it is charges ... given what I see of where the capacity and where the opportunity might be."
Pacific Blue has also applied for capacity to New Caledonia.
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