Ansett administrators clear the way for Virgin Blue
 

ABC News Net

Posted: Wed, 3 Jul 2002 18:26 AEST

Ansett administrators clear the way for Virgin Blue

The administrators of Ansett have formally released the former airline's facilities at Adelaide Airport, paving the way for Virgin Blue to move in within two months.

Virgin Blue has already signed a 16-year agreement to takeover Ansett's former terminal facilities in Brisbane.

John McArdle, the Corporate Affairs Manager of Adelaide Airport, says Ansett's administrators released the facilities at Adelaide Airport last Sunday.

"We're embarking on an upgrade program to clean it up and tidy it up a bit and then Virgin will be moving into that part of the domestic terminal which will then release additional space to do some necessary upgrades of the international terminal while we'll build a new one."

Posted: Thu, 4 Jul 2002 14:16 AEST
ABC ONLINE

Virgin denies Adelaide move
Virgin Airlines has denied speculation that it will move into the former Ansett facilities at Adelaide Airport within the next few weeks.

Ansett administrators released the northern facilities of the domestic terminal last Sunday, and yesterday airport authorities said they expected Virgin to sign a long-term lease soon.

However, Virgin Blue head of commercial, David Huttner, says negotiations with Adelaide Airport have not yet started.

"Look we want to move into the new terminal and we will certainly do so before the end of the year assuming we can reach fruitful negotiations with Adelaide Airport, but we're not in as much as a rush in Adelaide simply because, in let's say for example, Melbourne or Sydney, our facilities are completely maxed out and we need to get more capacity there first," he said.


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