Virgin Australia it is!
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Brisbane
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Re: For those talking about joining Star Alliance
Rebranded Virgin prepares for a tough battle
"Mr Borghetti .....
He also played down suggestions that he was looking at joining the Star Alliance.
"The time for thinking about joining an alliance will come, but now is not the time," he said, noting his main focus was strong bilateral relationships, and that alliance membership had drawbacks as well as advantages."
Rebranded Virgin prepares for a tough battle
"Mr Borghetti .....
He also played down suggestions that he was looking at joining the Star Alliance.
"The time for thinking about joining an alliance will come, but now is not the time," he said, noting his main focus was strong bilateral relationships, and that alliance membership had drawbacks as well as advantages."
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Join Date: Nov 2004
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6 A330's for VB...woops, I mean VA.
Virgin Australia beefs up Asian strategy | The Australian
VIRGIN Australia's Asian strategy could include Airbus A330 international services as it boostS its fleet to up to six of the widebody jets. The airline has two ex-Emirates A330s poised to go into service on its new Sydney-Perth services and will receive two new aircraft early next year configured with Virgin's upgraded business class.
"When they first come in we will take the two existing ones out for about a month, upgrade the product . . . and bring them back on," chief executive John Borghetti said.
An additional two planes are expected to arrive from Emirates in 2012-13 and Mr Borghetti said plans at this stage were to operate them domestically.
"But my mind's not closed to the opportunity of doing international with them," he said. "So that's why I'm leaving it a little bit open."
Mr Borghetti is on the hunt for Asian partners after the US Department of Transportation this week shelved its objections to the carrier's trans-Pacific alliance with Delta Air Lines.He intends to announce an Asian strategy by the end of the calendar year and said the move "was on track and going to plan".
The DoT approval, which is subject to a 14-day comment period, comes after the airlines convinced the US regulator of the alliance's consumer benefits, such as better pricing and improved schedules and frequencies.
The approval has been welcomed by analysts and boosted the carrier's share price on Wednesday, though it closed unchanged yesterday. The Macquarie Equities team, headed by Russell Shaw, said the approval was a crucial hurdle in the airline's game change strategy and predicted it could add $300 million to pre-tax profit if V Australia was able to increase its share of premium traffic to 20 per cent.
"Assuming the final route approval is received, we expect to see improving profitability on the route in the medium term as the number of effective competitors is reduced from four to three," Macquarie said.
It believes two Asian partners are required to round out the Asian strategy and says Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines are ideal candidates.
However, the analysts say a deal with Cathay is unlikely because of its oneworld affiliations and they do not see much value for Singapore given its existing presence in Australia.
"Strong second choice candidates in our view are Malaysian Airlines and Korean Air, where VBA's incoming A330s can be used to augment existing services, forming a more attractive offering to premium customers," they said.
VIRGIN Australia's Asian strategy could include Airbus A330 international services as it boostS its fleet to up to six of the widebody jets. The airline has two ex-Emirates A330s poised to go into service on its new Sydney-Perth services and will receive two new aircraft early next year configured with Virgin's upgraded business class.
"When they first come in we will take the two existing ones out for about a month, upgrade the product . . . and bring them back on," chief executive John Borghetti said.
An additional two planes are expected to arrive from Emirates in 2012-13 and Mr Borghetti said plans at this stage were to operate them domestically.
"But my mind's not closed to the opportunity of doing international with them," he said. "So that's why I'm leaving it a little bit open."
Mr Borghetti is on the hunt for Asian partners after the US Department of Transportation this week shelved its objections to the carrier's trans-Pacific alliance with Delta Air Lines.He intends to announce an Asian strategy by the end of the calendar year and said the move "was on track and going to plan".
The DoT approval, which is subject to a 14-day comment period, comes after the airlines convinced the US regulator of the alliance's consumer benefits, such as better pricing and improved schedules and frequencies.
The approval has been welcomed by analysts and boosted the carrier's share price on Wednesday, though it closed unchanged yesterday. The Macquarie Equities team, headed by Russell Shaw, said the approval was a crucial hurdle in the airline's game change strategy and predicted it could add $300 million to pre-tax profit if V Australia was able to increase its share of premium traffic to 20 per cent.
"Assuming the final route approval is received, we expect to see improving profitability on the route in the medium term as the number of effective competitors is reduced from four to three," Macquarie said.
It believes two Asian partners are required to round out the Asian strategy and says Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines are ideal candidates.
However, the analysts say a deal with Cathay is unlikely because of its oneworld affiliations and they do not see much value for Singapore given its existing presence in Australia.
"Strong second choice candidates in our view are Malaysian Airlines and Korean Air, where VBA's incoming A330s can be used to augment existing services, forming a more attractive offering to premium customers," they said.
Join Date: Mar 2011
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Could Virgin Australia launch flights from other Australian ports into Hong Kong? Not Sydney obviously as that would remain Virgin Atlantic, but with the Virgin Atlantic codeshare you could have a one stop, "all-Virgin" service to the UK. A nice way to link the brands without necessarily taking traffic from each other (though Cathay would probably have something to say about it).
Virgin Australia to Abu Dhabi, Etihad from there to Europe, etc. (with 77W)
Virgin Australia to Hong Kong, Virgin Atlantic from there to the UK. (with A333)
I guess it would seem unlikely unless Cathay agrees to play ball, but if they could get CX on board, that's a nice ready made Asian network to play with too.
Virgin Australia to Abu Dhabi, Etihad from there to Europe, etc. (with 77W)
Virgin Australia to Hong Kong, Virgin Atlantic from there to the UK. (with A333)
I guess it would seem unlikely unless Cathay agrees to play ball, but if they could get CX on board, that's a nice ready made Asian network to play with too.
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Had a look inside VH - YFC (the new 738) today very impressed! Nice look and feel in the cabin. The new business class section is a huge step up from the old premium economy.
Also noticed there is not PTV yet. Does anyone have any idea when its getting fitted ?
Also noticed there is not PTV yet. Does anyone have any idea when its getting fitted ?
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Had a look inside VH - YFC (the new 738) today very impressed! Nice look and feel in the cabin. The new business class section is a huge step up from the old premium economy
Join Date: Aug 2007
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It all blends together with the c/crew uniform very nicely.
Join Date: Jun 2007
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JB has said the A330's WON'T be going to Asia, unless he cannot tie up with an Asian carrier. Next 2 will go to ml-ph 2 after that possibly bn-ph and another syd or ml as required. He stated he doesn't want any more direct international exposure or operations. Any future overseas destinations will be via tie ups with current operators, unless he can't get a deal with one.
JB has said the A330's WON'T be going to Asia
The entire western world is addicted to unsustainable growth.
A public company cannot fathom sitting on it's lot and being happy. It needs to consume more and more, the stock price needs to grow and grow, and the company needs to expand and expand.
Look at Qantas. They operate in a niche market and they did it very well. Unfortunately for management, to get their performance bonuses via the targets set in their contracts, they need to think of more and more cunning ways to grow. Aka Jetstar, then Jetstar Asia, now Qantas Asia.
A pity, Qantas and Virgin for that matter were the most profitable before they chased growth.
Once JB does what he set out to do, (and he will do it) he will gracefully retire. The next guy/gal will need to follow a similar strategy to Qantas to perpetuate unsustainable growth. His/her contract will demand it.
You'll then end up with the management who put Qantas into the ground running Virgin.
The architects behind Ansetts demise are at the helm of Qantas right now and they think the ship is unsinkable. We all know what happened there.....
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Originally Posted by Tiger 01
Also noticed there is not PTV yet. Does anyone have any idea when its getting fitted ?
Join Date: Jun 2007
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Don't see the word forever in my post. It isn't his preferred idea, his words not mine. After he leaves all bets are off, just as they would be at any other airline. My post was to correct some people's impressions or ideas, according to the source What exactly was yours?
Cactus, would you rather they just fly them without fixing them? 
Any second hand aircraft will require some defect rectification before entry to service. They will still be a damn sight cheaper than new A330s when they are up and running.
Any second hand aircraft will require some defect rectification before entry to service. They will still be a damn sight cheaper than new A330s when they are up and running.
Join Date: Apr 2011
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Post 144-
"The A330 WILL ONLY BE USED DOMESTICALLY for the foreseeable future, even with the arrival of number 3 and 4.
It amazes me that people come on here to spin cr@p or spread bull$hit."
Nice work Servo
"The A330 WILL ONLY BE USED DOMESTICALLY for the foreseeable future, even with the arrival of number 3 and 4.
It amazes me that people come on here to spin cr@p or spread bull$hit."
Nice work Servo
Join Date: May 2000
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question I have is: will the economy product change or will it be the same pig- at-a-trough-off-the-cart crap that VB, jetstar and tiger serve up? If so, whats the change apart from a few bigger chairs up the front?