Branson: Press conference
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Branson: Press conference
AAP
Virgin Blue lodges bid for four Ansett
AAP|Published: Wednesday April 17, 12:56 PM
Virgin Blue today announced it has submitted a bid to buy four of Ansett's terminals in eastern Australia.
Virgin Blue chairman Sir Richard Branson said the bid did not include the Ansett terminal at Sydney Airport which may be subject to a legal dispute between Ansett administrators and Sydney Airports Corporation Ltd.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sir Richard also said Virgin Blue expected to make a decision on a $3.6 billion expansion of its fleet within the next three months.
He said the expansion would involve buying either 30 to 40 Boeing 737s or Airbus 320s.
The money for the expansion would come from Virgin Blue, he said.
Sir Richard declined to specify which terminals Virgin Blue had bid for.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The bid has gone into the administrator today for us to buy four terminals, also some of the hangar space and certain other Ansett assets," Sir Richard said.
"We don't, to be honest, want to go into details because it is still quite competitive situation out there."
He repeated his estimate that there would be some form of public float in Virgin in the next one to two years.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sir Richard and Patrick Corporation Ltd managing director Chris Corrigan today formally signed an agreement confirming Patrick's $260 million buy-in to the discount airline.
On the outlook for the domestic airline market, Sir Richard said it had the potential to double over the next three years because of the cheaper airfares being offered by Virgin Blue.
Virgin Blue lodges bid for four Ansett
AAP|Published: Wednesday April 17, 12:56 PM
Virgin Blue today announced it has submitted a bid to buy four of Ansett's terminals in eastern Australia.
Virgin Blue chairman Sir Richard Branson said the bid did not include the Ansett terminal at Sydney Airport which may be subject to a legal dispute between Ansett administrators and Sydney Airports Corporation Ltd.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sir Richard also said Virgin Blue expected to make a decision on a $3.6 billion expansion of its fleet within the next three months.
He said the expansion would involve buying either 30 to 40 Boeing 737s or Airbus 320s.
The money for the expansion would come from Virgin Blue, he said.
Sir Richard declined to specify which terminals Virgin Blue had bid for.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The bid has gone into the administrator today for us to buy four terminals, also some of the hangar space and certain other Ansett assets," Sir Richard said.
"We don't, to be honest, want to go into details because it is still quite competitive situation out there."
He repeated his estimate that there would be some form of public float in Virgin in the next one to two years.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sir Richard and Patrick Corporation Ltd managing director Chris Corrigan today formally signed an agreement confirming Patrick's $260 million buy-in to the discount airline.
On the outlook for the domestic airline market, Sir Richard said it had the potential to double over the next three years because of the cheaper airfares being offered by Virgin Blue.
Let's see 4 terminals in Eastern Australia
- CNS
- CBR
- OOL
- LST
I've left MEL out because I think it's probably too big for them but we'll have to wait and see. They definitely wouldn't need BNE as they have sole use of the Common Terminal area and if the AN terminal reverts to the owners they can lease any extra gates as they need them.
- CNS
- CBR
- OOL
- LST
I've left MEL out because I think it's probably too big for them but we'll have to wait and see. They definitely wouldn't need BNE as they have sole use of the Common Terminal area and if the AN terminal reverts to the owners they can lease any extra gates as they need them.
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"Today Show Transscipt
NineMSN
Today Show Transcript: Sir Richard Branson
Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson is continuing to expand his business arm through the Australian market, today meeting with Patrick Corporation chief Chris Corrigan to finalise their proposed merger. He has also been busy re-launching the Virgin mega-store chain, hosting the grand opening in Melbourne last night with none other than Sir Elton John. Sir Richard joins us now from the Fox FM studios in Melbourne.
TRACY GRIMSHAW: Sir Richard Branson, good morning.
SIR RICHARD BRANSON: Good morning.
TRACY GRIMSHAW: How are you doing?
SIR RICHARD BRANSON: I'm well.
TRACY GRIMSHAW: Thank you for getting up early for us this morning. I wasn't sure if you would make it.
SIR RICHARD BRANSON: We had a good party but we've also got to do work in the morning. I like to play hard and work hard.
TRACY GRIMSHAW: I believe you will meet your new business partner Chris Corrigan for the first time today.
SIR RICHARD BRANSON: Yes, it sounds strange. It's like an Indian marriage, but we hope to sort of consummate things very soon, maybe even today and then get on together to take on Qantas and build what we believe will be a great airline.
TRACY GRIMSHAW: We're told you will make a major announcement about airport terminals today. Do I take it you've decided what you are going to do about the proposed terminals?
SIR RICHARD BRANSON: We will be giving people a better idea of what we're planning in terminals. As we've always said, the key is to keep airfares low and terminals are not that magical in people's travel arrangements. But obviously we need terminal space, we need to be able to check people in quickly and promptly and efficiently and we will be giving people a better indication later today in which direction we are going.
TRACY GRIMSHAW: Because the Sydney terminal is looking a bit contentious at the moment ... Sydney's airport corporation is in court, wants to repossess it. Is that decision going to affect you either way?
SIR RICHARD BRANSON: Well, obviously if they won that court case it would affect us and if Sydney airport took overall the terminal space at Sydney airport, we would expect them to offer a decent competitive price for the Ansett terminal, otherwise we would feel that the ACCC should intervene to make sure that airfares stay low. So obviously we will watch the court case with interest.
TRACY GRIMSHAW: Is your announcement today going to try and get in early before that decision?
SIR RICHARD BRANSON: We're not making any grand announcement today about terminals because really all we can say today is whether we're going to bid or not going to bid. We want to be [able] to get decent terminal space at decent prices because we don't want to have to pass on big prices in airfares to the public. What's absolutely critical in the country is that airfares stay low so that millions of people who can't afford to travel that often can afford to travel much more often and that's what we're battling to make sure happens.
TRACY GRIMSHAW: Okay. You have indicated you want to expand Virgin Blue's services, particularly to New Zealand and Hong Kong. The transport department officials are saying Qantas has effectively filled the gap left by Ansett. How are you going to get around that, particularly on the Hong Kong route?
SIR RICHARD BRANSON: Well, I mean in every country in the world what happens is the so-called flag carrier tries to fill up all the slots that are available to stop competition. The ACCC's job is to encourage competition. So if Qantas tried to use up all their slots and all the frequencies on a particular route like Hong Kong, we will go to the competition authorities and say that is wrong. What the public need is competition. Therefore, we should have the right to fly daily to Hong Kong. Those are the sort of battles ahead we relish and we will fight and I think ultimately we will win because that's what the public will want.
TRACY GRIMSHAW: As you expand, would you be looking to hire former Ansett staff?
SIR RICHARD BRANSON: We've taken on a lot of Ansett staff already and we're still taking on Ansett staff. I had a complete ex-Ansett crew fly me down from Sydney yesterday to Melbourne. They were all absolutely delightful and they were … they were working enormously hard and so every day we're taking on more Ansett staff and are still interviewing them as we speak.
TRACY GRIMSHAW: Alright. You're recovering from a big night. We appreciate your time.
SIR RICHARD BRANSON: It wasn't that bad, was it? Was it that bad?
TRACY GRIMSHAW: Really, you look alright, you really do.
SIR RICHARD BRANSON: Thank you.
Today Show Transcript: Sir Richard Branson
Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson is continuing to expand his business arm through the Australian market, today meeting with Patrick Corporation chief Chris Corrigan to finalise their proposed merger. He has also been busy re-launching the Virgin mega-store chain, hosting the grand opening in Melbourne last night with none other than Sir Elton John. Sir Richard joins us now from the Fox FM studios in Melbourne.
TRACY GRIMSHAW: Sir Richard Branson, good morning.
SIR RICHARD BRANSON: Good morning.
TRACY GRIMSHAW: How are you doing?
SIR RICHARD BRANSON: I'm well.
TRACY GRIMSHAW: Thank you for getting up early for us this morning. I wasn't sure if you would make it.
SIR RICHARD BRANSON: We had a good party but we've also got to do work in the morning. I like to play hard and work hard.
TRACY GRIMSHAW: I believe you will meet your new business partner Chris Corrigan for the first time today.
SIR RICHARD BRANSON: Yes, it sounds strange. It's like an Indian marriage, but we hope to sort of consummate things very soon, maybe even today and then get on together to take on Qantas and build what we believe will be a great airline.
TRACY GRIMSHAW: We're told you will make a major announcement about airport terminals today. Do I take it you've decided what you are going to do about the proposed terminals?
SIR RICHARD BRANSON: We will be giving people a better idea of what we're planning in terminals. As we've always said, the key is to keep airfares low and terminals are not that magical in people's travel arrangements. But obviously we need terminal space, we need to be able to check people in quickly and promptly and efficiently and we will be giving people a better indication later today in which direction we are going.
TRACY GRIMSHAW: Because the Sydney terminal is looking a bit contentious at the moment ... Sydney's airport corporation is in court, wants to repossess it. Is that decision going to affect you either way?
SIR RICHARD BRANSON: Well, obviously if they won that court case it would affect us and if Sydney airport took overall the terminal space at Sydney airport, we would expect them to offer a decent competitive price for the Ansett terminal, otherwise we would feel that the ACCC should intervene to make sure that airfares stay low. So obviously we will watch the court case with interest.
TRACY GRIMSHAW: Is your announcement today going to try and get in early before that decision?
SIR RICHARD BRANSON: We're not making any grand announcement today about terminals because really all we can say today is whether we're going to bid or not going to bid. We want to be [able] to get decent terminal space at decent prices because we don't want to have to pass on big prices in airfares to the public. What's absolutely critical in the country is that airfares stay low so that millions of people who can't afford to travel that often can afford to travel much more often and that's what we're battling to make sure happens.
TRACY GRIMSHAW: Okay. You have indicated you want to expand Virgin Blue's services, particularly to New Zealand and Hong Kong. The transport department officials are saying Qantas has effectively filled the gap left by Ansett. How are you going to get around that, particularly on the Hong Kong route?
SIR RICHARD BRANSON: Well, I mean in every country in the world what happens is the so-called flag carrier tries to fill up all the slots that are available to stop competition. The ACCC's job is to encourage competition. So if Qantas tried to use up all their slots and all the frequencies on a particular route like Hong Kong, we will go to the competition authorities and say that is wrong. What the public need is competition. Therefore, we should have the right to fly daily to Hong Kong. Those are the sort of battles ahead we relish and we will fight and I think ultimately we will win because that's what the public will want.
TRACY GRIMSHAW: As you expand, would you be looking to hire former Ansett staff?
SIR RICHARD BRANSON: We've taken on a lot of Ansett staff already and we're still taking on Ansett staff. I had a complete ex-Ansett crew fly me down from Sydney yesterday to Melbourne. They were all absolutely delightful and they were … they were working enormously hard and so every day we're taking on more Ansett staff and are still interviewing them as we speak.
TRACY GRIMSHAW: Alright. You're recovering from a big night. We appreciate your time.
SIR RICHARD BRANSON: It wasn't that bad, was it? Was it that bad?
TRACY GRIMSHAW: Really, you look alright, you really do.
SIR RICHARD BRANSON: Thank you.
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Cheer up Buster, you never know, SACL might pay the
$400mil that the administrators want to make sure
the ex Ansett receive their 92c in the dollar, then again
they might only offer $200mil being the only bidder, got
to agree does not look good.
Wirraway
$400mil that the administrators want to make sure
the ex Ansett receive their 92c in the dollar, then again
they might only offer $200mil being the only bidder, got
to agree does not look good.
Wirraway
Last edited by Wirraway; 17th Apr 2002 at 06:02.
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AAP
Virgin in $3.6b expansion bid
Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Blue on Wednesday outlined a $3.6 billion fleet expansion program and moved to buy four Ansett terminals, as the battle to claw market share from Qantas Airways Ltd intensified.
In Sydney for his first ever meeting with new business partner Chris Corrigan of Patrick Corp, Virgin Blue chairman Sir Richard gave a bullish assessment of Australia's domestic aviation market.
"Because airfares are so much cheaper, we believe at least twice as many people will be travelling by air in the next three years so we need a lot of extra capacity," he said.
"Once we've finished domestically, we will take the airline overseas."
In a bid to meet demand, Virgin Blue expects to make a decision on a $3.6 billion fleet expansion within the next three months.
Sir Richard said the expansion would involve buying or leasing up to 40 Boeing 737s or Airbus 320s.
He said the expansion would be funded internally from cash generated by Virgin Blue.
Sir Richard also announced Virgin Blue had submitted a bid for four of collapsed airline Ansett's terminals in eastern Australia.
He said the bid did not include the Ansett terminal at Sydney Airport, which may be subject to a legal dispute between Ansett administrators and Sydney Airports Corporation Ltd.
However, he was confident Virgin Blue would eventually move into most Ansett terminals around Australia, the main issue being whether they leased them or owned them outright.
He said Virgin Blue would not bid for terminals that were too costly and could push up ticket prices.
"What the public wants is extremely low air fares - it doesn't matter to them whether the terminal they walk through is swish or not," he said.
The bid also includes hangar space, which will increase Virgin Blue's capacity for engineering and maintenance.
Sir Richard indicated there was no rush to float up to 20 per cent of the airline.
He said Virgin Blue needed to double it market share to 25 per cent first, a target he said would be reached in 12-24 months.
A prime overseas destination for Virgin Blue is New Zealand. Sir Richard said the trans-Tasman option was attractive with scope to offer cheaper flights.
But he said the initial focus was on Australia. The company wants to expand capacity on existing routes, particularly Perth.
Over the next two years, it wants to fly 737s into domestic destinations with populations above 50,000.
It will then consider flying smaller aircraft into smaller destinations.
Sir Richard denied any interest in the Hazelton and Kendell regional carriers.
He also dismissed rumours Virgin Blue was negotiating feeder arrangements with Air New Zealand.
Sir Richard and Mr Corrigan formally signed an agreement confirming Patrick's $260 million investment in Virgin Blue, giving the transport and logistics group a 50 per cent stake in the discount airline.
Sir Richard said plans for a Virgin-branded credit card in Australia were being hindered by the difficulty of finding a partner that did not charge customers the "incredibly high" rates imposed by Australian banks.
"We'll be talking to a variety of different people and trying to come up with a proposition where the interest rates will be a great deal less and people will be able to get great deals off all the various Virgin products that we offer," he said.
©AAP 2002
Virgin in $3.6b expansion bid
Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Blue on Wednesday outlined a $3.6 billion fleet expansion program and moved to buy four Ansett terminals, as the battle to claw market share from Qantas Airways Ltd intensified.
In Sydney for his first ever meeting with new business partner Chris Corrigan of Patrick Corp, Virgin Blue chairman Sir Richard gave a bullish assessment of Australia's domestic aviation market.
"Because airfares are so much cheaper, we believe at least twice as many people will be travelling by air in the next three years so we need a lot of extra capacity," he said.
"Once we've finished domestically, we will take the airline overseas."
In a bid to meet demand, Virgin Blue expects to make a decision on a $3.6 billion fleet expansion within the next three months.
Sir Richard said the expansion would involve buying or leasing up to 40 Boeing 737s or Airbus 320s.
He said the expansion would be funded internally from cash generated by Virgin Blue.
Sir Richard also announced Virgin Blue had submitted a bid for four of collapsed airline Ansett's terminals in eastern Australia.
He said the bid did not include the Ansett terminal at Sydney Airport, which may be subject to a legal dispute between Ansett administrators and Sydney Airports Corporation Ltd.
However, he was confident Virgin Blue would eventually move into most Ansett terminals around Australia, the main issue being whether they leased them or owned them outright.
He said Virgin Blue would not bid for terminals that were too costly and could push up ticket prices.
"What the public wants is extremely low air fares - it doesn't matter to them whether the terminal they walk through is swish or not," he said.
The bid also includes hangar space, which will increase Virgin Blue's capacity for engineering and maintenance.
Sir Richard indicated there was no rush to float up to 20 per cent of the airline.
He said Virgin Blue needed to double it market share to 25 per cent first, a target he said would be reached in 12-24 months.
A prime overseas destination for Virgin Blue is New Zealand. Sir Richard said the trans-Tasman option was attractive with scope to offer cheaper flights.
But he said the initial focus was on Australia. The company wants to expand capacity on existing routes, particularly Perth.
Over the next two years, it wants to fly 737s into domestic destinations with populations above 50,000.
It will then consider flying smaller aircraft into smaller destinations.
Sir Richard denied any interest in the Hazelton and Kendell regional carriers.
He also dismissed rumours Virgin Blue was negotiating feeder arrangements with Air New Zealand.
Sir Richard and Mr Corrigan formally signed an agreement confirming Patrick's $260 million investment in Virgin Blue, giving the transport and logistics group a 50 per cent stake in the discount airline.
Sir Richard said plans for a Virgin-branded credit card in Australia were being hindered by the difficulty of finding a partner that did not charge customers the "incredibly high" rates imposed by Australian banks.
"We'll be talking to a variety of different people and trying to come up with a proposition where the interest rates will be a great deal less and people will be able to get great deals off all the various Virgin products that we offer," he said.
©AAP 2002
Evertonian
Wirraway.
I bet the latter will be more to the point. As the only bidder, they may offer $1.00! Naturally, any extra profit associated with the sale of SYD will be passed on to AN staff by the government!!
They might as well tear it down & get as much as they can for the rubble & let SACL spend $500mil on a terminal.
Tool
Back you foul smelling demon, back to the past where you belong!!! Begone from the present lest you infect a GA pilot with your foul vitriol!!
I bet the latter will be more to the point. As the only bidder, they may offer $1.00! Naturally, any extra profit associated with the sale of SYD will be passed on to AN staff by the government!!
They might as well tear it down & get as much as they can for the rubble & let SACL spend $500mil on a terminal.Tool
Back you foul smelling demon, back to the past where you belong!!! Begone from the present lest you infect a GA pilot with your foul vitriol!!
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According to both the AGE and SMH this morning the 4
terminals being sought by DJ are MEL-BNE-ADL and CNS.
The "Herald Sun" reports:
"Three of those terminals we already fly to, one of those airports we don't fly to, " Sir Richard said.
At present, Virgin Blue does not fly to Hobart, which is probably regarded as an east coast airport.
Wirraway
terminals being sought by DJ are MEL-BNE-ADL and CNS.
The "Herald Sun" reports:
"Three of those terminals we already fly to, one of those airports we don't fly to, " Sir Richard said.
At present, Virgin Blue does not fly to Hobart, which is probably regarded as an east coast airport.
Wirraway
Last edited by Wirraway; 17th Apr 2002 at 23:24.
