Wirraway
31st Jan 2005, 16:55
Tues "New Zealand Herald"
Auckland on low-cost airline Pacific Blue's radar
01 February 2005
Low-cost carrier Pacific Blue looks ready to start flying out of Auckland but its boss, Tony Marks, will not confirm as much.
However, Mr Marks said news could be forthcoming shortly.
"We...recognise that Auckland is the major market to and from the Tasman and has to be on our radar," Mr Marks said.
"We'll make a statement about our 2005 aspirations about Auckland and one or two other places in the next couple of weeks."
He said the airline, owned by Australia's Virgin Blue, had examined a domestic service, but found the idea "proved a little bit challenging".
It was not immediately clear what destinations Pacific Blue would service.
But, Auckland's Island population was likely to make the Pacific a top contender.
Mr Marks' comments come as Virgin Blue's 45 per cent owner, Patrick Corp, mounts a bid to take full control of the carrier, 25 per cent owned by UK entrepreneur Richard Branson.
They also come a year after Pacific Blue made its inaugural New Zealand flight out of Christchurch.
Pacific Blue is also flying from Wellington to destinations in Australia and the Pacific and is making a profit, although Mr Marks would not disclose how much.
He would concede that Pacific's year had been "extraordinary".
"We are ahead of where we wanted to be. We knew we'd start with one aircraft and go to two, we weren't certain about the third and we got a third," he said.
Since Pacific's proposals for a new plane must be weighed against competing claims from other parts of the Australian network, successfully getting a third jet was welcome.
"The business just keeps growing and the organisational numbers remain the same - it is a tribute to the competence of the people running it that they've got the experience and knowledge to do that
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Auckland on low-cost airline Pacific Blue's radar
01 February 2005
Low-cost carrier Pacific Blue looks ready to start flying out of Auckland but its boss, Tony Marks, will not confirm as much.
However, Mr Marks said news could be forthcoming shortly.
"We...recognise that Auckland is the major market to and from the Tasman and has to be on our radar," Mr Marks said.
"We'll make a statement about our 2005 aspirations about Auckland and one or two other places in the next couple of weeks."
He said the airline, owned by Australia's Virgin Blue, had examined a domestic service, but found the idea "proved a little bit challenging".
It was not immediately clear what destinations Pacific Blue would service.
But, Auckland's Island population was likely to make the Pacific a top contender.
Mr Marks' comments come as Virgin Blue's 45 per cent owner, Patrick Corp, mounts a bid to take full control of the carrier, 25 per cent owned by UK entrepreneur Richard Branson.
They also come a year after Pacific Blue made its inaugural New Zealand flight out of Christchurch.
Pacific Blue is also flying from Wellington to destinations in Australia and the Pacific and is making a profit, although Mr Marks would not disclose how much.
He would concede that Pacific's year had been "extraordinary".
"We are ahead of where we wanted to be. We knew we'd start with one aircraft and go to two, we weren't certain about the third and we got a third," he said.
Since Pacific's proposals for a new plane must be weighed against competing claims from other parts of the Australian network, successfully getting a third jet was welcome.
"The business just keeps growing and the organisational numbers remain the same - it is a tribute to the competence of the people running it that they've got the experience and knowledge to do that
===========================================