Virgin Australia it is!

[piston broke again]

Dodgy brothers...maybe do a bit of research before putting uneducated posts on here. Any press release from the rebranding will have details about new seats in economy. New IFE to come. What do u want for your (insert $ amount that's cheaper than a taxi fare to the airport here) dollars? Fly tiger. I'm sure ull be happy with them... Haha

[dodgybrothers]

piston, i'm asking about the product not the seats. read the question

[Warped Wings]

Why don't you go to Now you're flying with Virgin Australia | Virgin Australia and have a look at the changes for yourself

[PoppaJo]

Proving flight tomorrow for the A330. SY-ML-SY

[inandout]

The 330 most probably will not go into Asia, it will be announced by years end the name of the Bilateral partner for Asia.

[flamingmoe]

Incorrect inandout, JB has said that the A330 will only go to asia WITH an alliance to back it up. You got it arse about

[Frickman]

JB would apear to be a master at hiding his grand plan intentions by tightly controlling the desemination of information by drip feeding tid bits.

[tourismman]

There was a article by Virgin a week or so ago which stated that aircraft 3 and 4 will be operated on international routes most likely Asia.

BNE-AUH which is mooted to start Feb 2012 is expected to be a 332 as no more 777's are coming, as Borghetti also last week stated no need for any more of them.
Expect BNE-AUH to operate via SIN the same routing as Etihad does out of BNE.

[virginexcess]

Even EK didn't operate their 332's DXB to anywhere in OZ, and their whole business model was built around starting destinations with the 330 then adding a 777 when the loads demanded. I am not a 330 officianado, but I know a bit about the 777, and i doubt you will see the 330 on a direct route to AUH for any length of time.

But i've gotta say, I've been wrong before (a lot), and JB has told me directly that he believes the 330 to be better than the tripler into Asia. I think he's wrong, and wrong in a big way, but I'm not making the decisions. My bet is 330 to Asia. 330 to AUH initially because all the 777's are going into maintenance next year, so we will be a jet down for several months (unless the rumours about EY 777's turn out to be true), then the 777 will pick up the direct AUH route (if there is one) just like Emirates do out of PH, BNE, SYD and MEL.

[Mr. Hat]

JB would apear to be a master at hiding his grand plan intentions by tightly controlling the desemination of information by drip feeding tid bits.

He also has the respect of the staff. There have been pieces of information, such as uniforms shared with staff before official release. Its impressive to see noone went against the wishes of the company by posting on the various forums etc. Yes I know there were confidentiality clauses but in this information era its still a pretty good effort. I hope the morale continues this current trend. Makes a day at work much easier.

[neville_nobody]

I would have thought PER-AUH would have been a possibilty given that's where its heading anyway and EY don't cover that route.

[OhForSure]

virginexcess:

With regards to your belowmentioned statement:

Even EK didn't operate their 332's DXB to anywhere in OZ, and their whole business model was built around starting destinations with the 330 then adding a 777 when the loads demanded.

It is incorrect. I think you'll find Sydney originally was served back in 2000 by EK0066, an A330-243 service. This was before Sydney went to a 777 operation.

[1a sound asleep]

EK A332 In SYD proof Photo Search Results | Airliners.net

[virginexcess]

It is incorrect. I think you'll find Sydney originally was served back in 2000 by EK0066, an A330-243 service. This was before Sydney went to a 777 operation

Yes, but that was not a direct flight, it was via BKK if I recall. My Comment about 330's to Australia was referring to direct flights,

Even EK didn't operate their 332's DXB to anywhere in OZ

The first direct flights to SYD were operated by the 340-500

And of course the 310 operated the SIN-MEL service prior to the 777 taking over.

I stand by my assertion that using the 330 for direct flights to the middle east from OZ would only underline the company's lack of understanding of the capability of the 777, or their inability to exploit its advantages.

V

[fatbus]

330 dxb mel 2004, direct via sin, remember VE there is a big diff between non stop and direct. 2 7-8 hr sectors on the 330 is ideal

[virginexcess]

Yeah, sorry, I've had a small brain explosion and thought that the audience were professional pilots, not plane spotters.

For the benefit of those who spend their days memorizing airline schedules and registration marks, most professional long haul pilots that i work with use the term "direct" to refer to non-stop flights from one point to another, and that was the manner in which I used it.

I concede that I should have realized that a reasonable amount of contributors here get their information from Airline Press releases rather than active involvement in the industry.

(apologies to The Kelpie et al, who add a lot of value to this forum)

To clarify, as far as i am aware, EK never operated the A330 NON STOP from Dubai to anywhere in OZ. I will also concede that i don't remember whether the 330 started the Perth flights, but i don't think so, and I don't have the interest in researching it.

Of course, if VA are looking at adding frequency to the existing BNE-SIN-AUH flight, then an A330 may well be the best option until the route provides enough demand to put the 777 on it and make some real money.

Now that I've had my lack of understanding of IATA terminology, and my fading memory exposed, i shall retire again to the back benches and wallow in the embarrassment of my shallow knowledge.

[GAFA]

And more of the Game Change started today;

http://www.ausbt.com.au/photo-galler...ounge-now-open

and this;

http://www.ausbt.com.au/virgin-s-qan...flexible-fares

[OhForSure]

virginexcess:

Jesus christ mate, settle down, nobody's trying to hang you up on this... you never mentioned anything about EK direct to Aus. You said they never operated the A330 to Aus and you were called out on it. No biggy. I certainly don't know their schedule or anything... I remembered flying on it once. Deary me.

Otherwise I agree with you entirely that the A330 to AUH would be loser for VA.

[7378FE]

The 330's aren't going anywhere near AUH, this is purely 777 ops, but the VA 777's could see service to Europe on Etihad flights, also Eithad aircraft doing VA sectors to LAX as the need may arise.

...........and regarding GAFA's post re the MEL Lounge upgrade, QF ain't seen nothing yet, that's the tip of the iceberg that will sink QF domestic.

Ever had a kick in the nuts, it hurts, QF will soon get an almighty one that they wouldn't know what to do with, it will make the demise of Ansett in 2001 seem like a Swedish massage.

[Worrals in the wilds]

Nice lounge. BTW, are there any male 'lounge angels'? I guess you can't change a whole corporate culture overnight (of course in a biblical sense angels don't have a gender, but I don't think that's the kind of angel they're pushing)...

That violet glow you're seeing at the front of the bench comes from a grid of LED lights inside the fixture. The colour can be changed to suit different times of the day and reflect the different 'moods' of passengers, such as brighter for the morning and more soothing for the end of the day.

If they have a major delay does it turn red? Seriously, it all looks very groovy.
Are they keeping the same pay per entry fee structure?