Virginblue International
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Virginblue International
Just wondering if VB have set a date for when the international runs are to start up.
Heard they were looking at Triple 7's down the road to do some of the longer runs...
Any truth to it all...?
Heard they were looking at Triple 7's down the road to do some of the longer runs...
Any truth to it all...?
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More like this - SQ end up with a majority stake in VB. SQ start international ops out of Australia without the need for an open skies agreement that the Howard government won't approve anyway.
VB become the better airline in Australia due to excellent service and Singapore backing, sorry QF.
REX, Alliance and maybe Skywest just feed VB and SQ.
Therefore, in around five years time, we have a great airline group in SQ,VB, REX etc and a dinosaur of another airline.
VB become the better airline in Australia due to excellent service and Singapore backing, sorry QF.
REX, Alliance and maybe Skywest just feed VB and SQ.
Therefore, in around five years time, we have a great airline group in SQ,VB, REX etc and a dinosaur of another airline.
Interesting - VB the no-frills airline gets bought out buy SIA, the all conquering (service-wise only of course!) airline. VB then becomes "the better airline in Australia due to excellent service " But hang on a minute - I thought VB was a no frills operation so the masses can fly -keep that air fair!? What's going on here eh????
With the cash reserves SIA must be chewing through at the moment (just check out the billions of $ worth of machinery clogging up taxiways at Changi) I doubt SIA's going to be in a position to place the required money into Branson's greedy little hands in exchange for VB.
Then, of course, I wonder what will become of SIA if they were to get rid of Expat pilots??? hmmm.......
With the cash reserves SIA must be chewing through at the moment (just check out the billions of $ worth of machinery clogging up taxiways at Changi) I doubt SIA's going to be in a position to place the required money into Branson's greedy little hands in exchange for VB.
Then, of course, I wonder what will become of SIA if they were to get rid of Expat pilots??? hmmm.......
Pete - yet another 'interesting' slant on current events.
If DJ do get 777, then that will be great for all of the guys flying with them. However, it raises some pretty interesting questions:
How many low cost long haul international operators are there?
What happened to 'the Southwest model'? New types, more training, more maintenance workers, more infrastructure etc = more costs
Skywest feeding into just DJ & SQ? Might have to re-negotiate the deal they've just signed with QF...
I see that the REX - DJ tie up has been publicly announced. Strangely enough, I haven't heard of too much more jobs floating about. Maybe they will all come when the White Knight of Singapore rolls into town...
Or perhaps the whole deal will never go ahead. After all, the Singaporeans have lost a lot of money through their recent investments - Virgin Atlantic, Ansett, Air New Zealand. What makes you think that they will suddenly leap feet first into another joint venture...?
Just my thoughts.
If DJ do get 777, then that will be great for all of the guys flying with them. However, it raises some pretty interesting questions:
How many low cost long haul international operators are there?
What happened to 'the Southwest model'? New types, more training, more maintenance workers, more infrastructure etc = more costs
Skywest feeding into just DJ & SQ? Might have to re-negotiate the deal they've just signed with QF...
I see that the REX - DJ tie up has been publicly announced. Strangely enough, I haven't heard of too much more jobs floating about. Maybe they will all come when the White Knight of Singapore rolls into town...
Or perhaps the whole deal will never go ahead. After all, the Singaporeans have lost a lot of money through their recent investments - Virgin Atlantic, Ansett, Air New Zealand. What makes you think that they will suddenly leap feet first into another joint venture...?
Just my thoughts.
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mmmbop, you are of course talking about the current situation. Things may improve in the future dont you think?
J Utah - again, no forsight there. Who said anything about being low cost? whats wrong with one of the notions around that VB may operate the majority of the nationwide network and have SQ offer full service between capital cities only? Why would SQ do it tough? they would own a majority stake in VB, attract all the STAR international on carriage an be operating a third of a network that AN ever had at a much higher load factor.
SQ and REX already have an interline agreement, signed a few months ago, so you can already check in at Canberra and anywhere else on the REX network and go to Singapore with associated on carriage and baggage taken care of. Oh, and what about lounges? REX and VB are getting there own up and running, I'm sure SQ could modify them to use them as well.
Yes, Skywest have signed an agreement with QF, REX also has a sort of agreement with QF as well. Both agreements are not one airline specific and both airlines can carry pax for other airlines.
Your ignorance about SQ is well founded, you obviously don't keep an eye on what the STAR alliance is up to or what the STAR meeting in Washington last week was all about.
None of this will happen overnight, but do yourself a favour and at least keep an open mind to what could happen when the industry picks up.
J Utah - again, no forsight there. Who said anything about being low cost? whats wrong with one of the notions around that VB may operate the majority of the nationwide network and have SQ offer full service between capital cities only? Why would SQ do it tough? they would own a majority stake in VB, attract all the STAR international on carriage an be operating a third of a network that AN ever had at a much higher load factor.
SQ and REX already have an interline agreement, signed a few months ago, so you can already check in at Canberra and anywhere else on the REX network and go to Singapore with associated on carriage and baggage taken care of. Oh, and what about lounges? REX and VB are getting there own up and running, I'm sure SQ could modify them to use them as well.
Yes, Skywest have signed an agreement with QF, REX also has a sort of agreement with QF as well. Both agreements are not one airline specific and both airlines can carry pax for other airlines.
Your ignorance about SQ is well founded, you obviously don't keep an eye on what the STAR alliance is up to or what the STAR meeting in Washington last week was all about.
None of this will happen overnight, but do yourself a favour and at least keep an open mind to what could happen when the industry picks up.
Pete - once again you are very quick to point out to others how wrong they are, simply because they have a different opinion to yours.
Here's where many of my queries have come from:
"Virgin Blue is based on the idea that people would fly a lot more, if it cost a lot less..."
"Virgin Blue took an innovative look at lowering airfares. If you can get to your destination in no time, who needs all the extras? Without the superficial, we can lower operating costs dramatically and pass the savings on to you, while focusing on what matters most - quality service, consistently.
What you won't find in our low fares.
The cost of tickets.
The cost of airline lounges.
The cost of "free" meals.
The cost of fancy offices
The cost of running many types of aircraft."
all from www.virginblue.com.au
So - perhaps that's where my mistaken belief that any Virgin Blue international operation would be low cost came from.
As for Singapore Taking a majority shareholding in DJ - I think that would be quite hard for them to accomplish. After all, look at the trouble that Branson & Godfrey are having in trying to dilute Patrick Corporations shareholding so that they can publicly float the company. I suggest that this would signal that SQ will be expected to pay a price well above the going rate to take a majority shareholding in DJ - after all, why would Patrick Corporation 'give away' their DJ holdings if it is doing so well...?
You're correct in stating that I don't know what went on at the STAR meeting in Washington last week - I'd guess that many others are in the same boat. Perhaps you could fill us all in?
I'd suggest that you might like to heed your own sage advice, and keep an open mind about others opinions as well as your own - I guess that's me doing you a favour...
Here's where many of my queries have come from:
"Virgin Blue is based on the idea that people would fly a lot more, if it cost a lot less..."
"Virgin Blue took an innovative look at lowering airfares. If you can get to your destination in no time, who needs all the extras? Without the superficial, we can lower operating costs dramatically and pass the savings on to you, while focusing on what matters most - quality service, consistently.
What you won't find in our low fares.
The cost of tickets.
The cost of airline lounges.
The cost of "free" meals.
The cost of fancy offices
The cost of running many types of aircraft."
all from www.virginblue.com.au
So - perhaps that's where my mistaken belief that any Virgin Blue international operation would be low cost came from.
As for Singapore Taking a majority shareholding in DJ - I think that would be quite hard for them to accomplish. After all, look at the trouble that Branson & Godfrey are having in trying to dilute Patrick Corporations shareholding so that they can publicly float the company. I suggest that this would signal that SQ will be expected to pay a price well above the going rate to take a majority shareholding in DJ - after all, why would Patrick Corporation 'give away' their DJ holdings if it is doing so well...?
You're correct in stating that I don't know what went on at the STAR meeting in Washington last week - I'd guess that many others are in the same boat. Perhaps you could fill us all in?
I'd suggest that you might like to heed your own sage advice, and keep an open mind about others opinions as well as your own - I guess that's me doing you a favour...
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Guys, the rumours we have here as a Vir driver from the sunny uk is that we will be operating into sydney from hong kong on airbus's sometime in the next 12 months. I believe and god knows in virgin anything can happen! that virgin blue's int routes will be perth-singapore, east australia-bali and of course new zealand. That way the 737 low cost model is preserved and virgin atlantic finds a profitable use for its 340/600's. on an aside we applied and i'm not sure if we got melbourne/adelaide/sydney route licences last year...
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So Pete, what ACTUALLY is this better VB service you go on about? Do VB hosties have a particular flair for handing out water or selling you a drink or a sandwich on a 5 hour Syd-Per sector while you stare at the seat in front of you?
I really want to know.
I really want to know.
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Pete, Skywest is a QF frequent flyer partner and has a through ticketing arrangement with QF. They are a QF feeder. This was announced on February 3. Have they changed their mind already? You must be a busy bloke, sitting on board meetings in WA and attending STAR meetings in Washington. I hope you get FF points (though not with QF of course).
From the ASX website
Singapore looks into low-cost carrier 12/06/2003 09:45:24 PM
"Singapore Airlines says it is investigating starting up a new low-cost no-frills carrier.
In a statement released on Thursday night, Asia's largest airline said the new airline would be an alternative to transforming its SilkAir subsidiary into a low-cost operation.
"In response to questions by members of the media, Singapore Airlines wishes to announce it is evaluating the start-up of a new low-cost, no-frills carrier as an alternative to the previously mentioned option of transforming subsidiary SilkAir into a low-cost operation if market conditions warrant it," the airline said.
"A specially-formed task force has been working on the concept of the low-cost, no frills airline and studying the economics of such a stand-alone model with its own brand identity."
The airline said a decision on the project would be reached within this year, and an announcement made at that time."
It looks to me, Pete, like any new SQ off shoots will probably be just that - low cost. I'm not too sure where that leaves your full service SQ / 'excellent service' DJ tie up - any further news from the STAR meeting you might want to break...?
Singapore looks into low-cost carrier 12/06/2003 09:45:24 PM
"Singapore Airlines says it is investigating starting up a new low-cost no-frills carrier.
In a statement released on Thursday night, Asia's largest airline said the new airline would be an alternative to transforming its SilkAir subsidiary into a low-cost operation.
"In response to questions by members of the media, Singapore Airlines wishes to announce it is evaluating the start-up of a new low-cost, no-frills carrier as an alternative to the previously mentioned option of transforming subsidiary SilkAir into a low-cost operation if market conditions warrant it," the airline said.
"A specially-formed task force has been working on the concept of the low-cost, no frills airline and studying the economics of such a stand-alone model with its own brand identity."
The airline said a decision on the project would be reached within this year, and an announcement made at that time."
It looks to me, Pete, like any new SQ off shoots will probably be just that - low cost. I'm not too sure where that leaves your full service SQ / 'excellent service' DJ tie up - any further news from the STAR meeting you might want to break...?
Yeah, I work for QF - but you already knew that.
While we're asking - where do you work Pete?
While we're asking - where do you work Pete?
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Sorry big Johnny, you won't get that out of me. We can debate all this as much as we want, at the end of the day we just have to wait and see what happens.
I think alot of people would be surprised if SQ gave a blanket no to at least having some interest in an Australian carrier.
BB - gotta laugh at you. Yeah, maybe I do get around.
I think alot of people would be surprised if SQ gave a blanket no to at least having some interest in an Australian carrier.
BB - gotta laugh at you. Yeah, maybe I do get around.
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As per Travelbiz.com.au
Virgin Blue unveils trans-Tasman flight plans
Virgin Blue plans to fly to New Zealand, Fiji and Vanuatu from October this year.
The carrier has applied to the International Air Services Commission (IASC) for capacity to inaugurate air services between Australia and New Zealand, as well as Fiji and Vanuatu.
It requested unlimited capacity on the New Zealand route for a five-year period, in terms of the open route structure of the Australia New Zealand Air Services Agreement.
It plans to use a brand name other than Virgin Blue on the route, which is yet to be announced, and to fly B737-800 and 737-700 aircraft.
The carrier says 'full' utilization of the capacity will contingent on a satisfactory outcome to the proposed Qantas/Air New Zealand alliance.
The alliance would see the Australian carrier acquire 22.5 per cent of its New Zealand rival.
Virgin has already applied to the regulatory authorities in both countries to force the airlines to undertake structural changes to the alliance proposal to enure a level playing field on the route.
Its application to the IASC for capacity between Australia and Fiji is for 1260 seats per week between Australia and Fiji for a five year period.
It has requested 720 seats weekly each way between Australia and Vanuatu for a period of one year.
16 June 2003
Virgin Blue unveils trans-Tasman flight plans
Virgin Blue plans to fly to New Zealand, Fiji and Vanuatu from October this year.
The carrier has applied to the International Air Services Commission (IASC) for capacity to inaugurate air services between Australia and New Zealand, as well as Fiji and Vanuatu.
It requested unlimited capacity on the New Zealand route for a five-year period, in terms of the open route structure of the Australia New Zealand Air Services Agreement.
It plans to use a brand name other than Virgin Blue on the route, which is yet to be announced, and to fly B737-800 and 737-700 aircraft.
The carrier says 'full' utilization of the capacity will contingent on a satisfactory outcome to the proposed Qantas/Air New Zealand alliance.
The alliance would see the Australian carrier acquire 22.5 per cent of its New Zealand rival.
Virgin has already applied to the regulatory authorities in both countries to force the airlines to undertake structural changes to the alliance proposal to enure a level playing field on the route.
Its application to the IASC for capacity between Australia and Fiji is for 1260 seats per week between Australia and Fiji for a five year period.
It has requested 720 seats weekly each way between Australia and Vanuatu for a period of one year.
16 June 2003
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If we are getting 777's they haven't told us about them yet! The company has always stated we would be going long haul sooner rather than later but have never said any more than that. WE are still flat out trying to get the domestic operation sorted out without launching into offshore ops. I think the next 6 months will be very interesting.
The new services WILL be crewed by DJ pilots but it will NOT come under the virgin brand name. We no nothing more than you guys.
The new services WILL be crewed by DJ pilots but it will NOT come under the virgin brand name. We no nothing more than you guys.