Tag Archives: Brisbane

Jetstar Airways announces new Brisbane-Honolulu flights starting on December 15

Jetstar Airways (Australia) (Melbourne) has announced new nonstop service between Brisbane and Honolulu starting on December 15, 2014.

The route will be operated by Airbus A330 aircraft up to three times a week during the peak season with two weekly services in the off peak.

The new Honolulu route will be the second wide body service from Brisbane following the start of nonstop services to Bali later this month to be operated by the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Flights will depart from Brisbane on Tuesdays and Fridays with services operating from Honolulu on Mondays and Thursdays.

The third service for peak season will operate on a Sunday. The route will eventually be operated by the Boeing 787 Dreamliner as Jetstar continues to take delivery of more aircraft.

Jetstar Airways:

Virgin Australia celebrates 10 years of international flying, announces new codeshares

Virgin Australia Airlines (Brisbane) today celebrated 10 years of international flights, announcing eight new international codeshare services.

The airline’s first international flight, DJ 007 departed from Christchurch, New Zealand at 11 am on January 29, 2004 for Brisbane, Australia.

Since then, the airline has grown from offering one international destination to offering over 400 destinations worldwide. Virgin Australia operates to 16 destinations internationally and through its strategic alliance partners, offers 386 codeshare and interline destinations across the world.

The eight new international codeshare services include Seattle/Tacoma and Boston with Delta Air Lines, Zurich, Minsk, Medina and Rome with Etihad Airways and Athens and Brunei with Singapore Airlines.

Copyright Photo: John Adlard/AirlinersGallery.com (all others by Virgin Australia). Airbus A330-243 VH-XFB (msn 372) departs the runway at Sydney.

Virgin Australia:

Brindabella Airlines is put into receivership, all flights grounded

Brindabella Airlines (Canberra) on December 14 suddenly suspended all operations. The following day the regional carrier in Australia was put into receivership.

The carrier was founded and commenced operations in 1994. In 2003 the business was expanded to provide regional airline services and the first two routes were between Canberra and Newcastle, and Canberra and Albury. Brindabella Airlines was offering over 280 flights per week to destinations including Brisbane, Canberra, Cobar, Cooma (Snowy Mountains), Coffs Harbour, Moree, Mudgee, Narrabri, Newcastle, Orange, Sydney, and Tamworth.

Brindabella Airlines has a fleet of Swearingen SA227AC Metros (18 seats), BAe Jetstream 32s (19 seats), and BAe Jetstream 41s (30 seats). Brindabella was also a QANTAS affiliate airline.

Brindabella Airlines was acquired by the Business Air Holdings group and has been partnered with Aeropelican Air Services, since September 2011. Business Air Holdings is an airline investment group with a particular interest in regional airline services.

Read the full story from The Canberra Times: CLICK HERE

Video: 140 staff members were laid off.

Air Niugini launches a new route to Bali, upgrades its cabins

Air Niugini (Port Moresby) added a new weekly route to from Port Moresby to Bali, Indonesia on August 5.

The company is also upgrading its cabin and issued this statement:

It is with great pride that we introduce the first of our retro-fitted aircraft, Boeing 767 P2-PXW.

P2-PXW was away for about 2 and a half months being retro-fitted and now boasts a configuration of 28 Business Class and 160 Economy Class seats. Customers can expect an enhanced, sleek new look cabin interior and the most exciting feature will be state-of-the-art inflight entertainment experience. In brief this is what customers will enjoy on P2-PXW;

•   An upgraded and new colour scheme mixing grey & red for the seats
•   A completely new seat in Business and Economy Class
•   28 Business Class seats – Cocoon style seats with lie-flat seats
•   160 Economy Class seats – In-seat videos
•   New Inflight entertainment offering in both classes – Movies on demand

Basically customers enjoy extra comfort whilst enjoying the wide range of Inflight Entertainment – TV Shows, Movies, Audio recordings and even games all from their individual in-seat screen.

We have a few preliminary pictures to share for your reference:

Economy Class

Front view

Back view

Business Class

Front view

Back view

Additional information to note:

• The 2nd Boeing 767, P2-PXV will be leaving for the upgrade of seats and IFE. The configuration will be the same as P2-PXW.
• Both Boeing 737 aircraft will also be retrofitted with the new seats and the IFE. They depart later in the year.

Top Copyright Photo: Peter Gates/AirlinersGallery.com (all others by Air Niugini). Boeing 767-341 ER P2-PXV (msn 30341) will be the second Boeing 767 to receive the new interior. The company also has a Boeing 787-8 on order for delivery next year.

Air Niugini:

Domestic Route Map:

International Route Map:

Virgin Australia moves one step closer to acquiring 60% of Tiger Airways Australia

Virgin Australia Holdings Limited (Virgin Australia Airlines) (Brisbane) today (May 28) welcomed confirmation from the Foreign Investment Review Board that it has no objections to the proposed acquisition of 60 percent of the existing shares in Tiger Airways Australia Pty Ltd (Tiger Australia) (Melbourne).

This confirmation satisfies another condition for the proposed acquisition of Tiger Australia, which will enable Virgin Australia to access the budget market segment and expedite the growth of Tiger Australia.

The proposed transaction still remains subject to certain conditions and Virgin Australia expects the transaction to be completed by mid-July.

Top Copyright Photo: Ivan K. Nishimura/Blue Wave Group. Virgin Australia’s brand new Boeing 737-8FE WL VH-YFF (msn 40994) and crew pass through Honolulu on delivery.

Above Copyright Photo: Virgin Australia.

Virgin Australia:

Tiger Airways (Australia):

Bottom Copyright Photo: Peter Gates/AirlinersGallery.com. Tiger Airways’ Airbus A320-232 VH-VNH (msn 3734) stops at Brisbane.

Romance is Back Video:

The High Court in Singapore approves the Virgin Australia acquisition of Skywest Airlines

Virgin Australia Airlines (Brisbane) has received the approval of the High Court in Singapore to acquire Skywest Airlines (Perth). Previously the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board cleared the merger and Virgin Australia on March 13 received approval from Skywest Airlines Ltd shareholders of the proposed acquisition of 100% of the issued share capital of Skywest, pursuant to a scheme of arrangement under the laws of Singapore. The acquisition process is now complete.

Copyright Photo: Peter Gates. Skywest Airlines already operates a fleet of ATR 72-500s on regional routes for Virgin Australia. ATR 72-212A (ATR 72-500) VH-FVI (msn 955) is pictured on the ramp at Brisbane.

Virgin Australia:

Virgin Australia-Skywest:

Skywest Airlines:

Skywest Airlines operates an extensive route network under its own brand in Western Australia.

Video:

Virgin Australia wins clearance to acquire Skywest Airlines

Virgin Australia Airlines (Brisbane) has received government clearance to continue its stock acquisition of regional carrier Skywest Airlines (Perth).

The airline issued the following statement:

Virgin Australia Holdings Limited welcomed the ACCC’s clearance of the proposed acquisition of 100% of the issued share capital in Skywest Airlines Ltd (Perth) pursuant to a scheme of arrangement which is subject to the laws of Singapore.

Under the agreement, Skywest would become part of the Virgin Australia brand but would continue to operate under its current Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) with its own management team, based in Western Australia. This would enable Virgin Australia to fast-track its growth in regional Australia and develop a more integrated network, service and frequent flyer program for the benefit of its customers.

Virgin Australia CEO John Borghetti said: “The ACCC’s clearance represents an important step for Virgin Australia in completing the proposed acquisition of Skywest.

“This acquisition will enable us to accelerate our expansion in the high growth fly-in-fly-out (FIFO) and regional markets, increasing competition in these important segments and bringing new benefits to customers.

“It will also be very positive for business and tourism, particularly in Western Australia and regional Australia, as we will invest to support the growth of Skywest”, Mr Borghetti said.

The proposed transaction still remains subject to certain conditions and regulatory approvals, including Foreign Investment Review Board approval, Skywest shareholder approval and the approval of the Singapore High Court.

Top Copyright Photo: Peter Gates. Skywest Airlines currently operates 10 ATR 72-212As (ATR 72-500s) on feeder routes for Virgin Australia Airlines in their colors. VH-FVH (msn 954) prepares for the next flight at Brisbane.

Skywest Airlines (Australia):

Virgin Australia Airlines:

Virgin Australia Airlines-Skywest Airlines:

Skywest’s routes in western Australia:

Please click on the map for the full-size view.

Bottom Copyright Photo: Micheil Keegan. The in-house livery of Skywest Airlines and the Airbus A320 is now likely to be retired. Airbus A320-231 VH-FNP (msn 429) arrives back at the Perth, Western Australia base painted in the 2003 livery.

QANTAS Group to lease five Boeing 717s, order three Bombardier Q400s and cancel one Boeing 787

The QANTAS Group (QANTAS Airways) (Sydney) has announced an update to its fleet plan to capitalize on growth in Australian domestic markets.

QANTAS will lease an additional five Boeing 717 aircraft (above) and purchase three Bombardier DHC-8-402 (Q400) aircraft (below), due to start arriving from the second half of 2013.

The company has also made a change to its international fleet plan, with the cancellation of a single Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner on order for Jetstar Airways.

The remaining 14 Boeing 787-8s will be delivered to Jetstar as planned, with the first aircraft to arrive in mid-2013. This will enable the gradual transfer of Airbus A330 aircraft from Jetstar to QANTAS Domestic and the retirement of QANTAS’ Boeing 767 fleet.

Mr Joyce said the cancellation of one B787 took advantage of flexibility in its fleet plan and contract with Boeing.

“The original 787 order for Jetstar was designed to replace all 11 of its existing A330s that are used for long haul services plus provide another four lines of flying for future growth.

“While the plan is for Jetstar’s long haul network to keep expanding we are using the flexibility in our agreement with Boeing to cancel a firm order knowing that we can replace it with one of our 50 options for this aircraft down the track, and with a full view of what market conditions are like at the time,” added Mr Joyce.

Jetstar’s short haul growth plans continue to be supported by the QANTAS Group’s existing order of Airbus A320 aircraft.

Mr Joyce said the QANTAS Group remained firmly committed to the Dreamliners for both Qantas International and Jetstar, and that it retained options and purchase rights for 50 Boeing 787s of either -8 or -9 variants available for delivery from 2016.

In an important milestone for the Jetstar Boeing 787 program, production of its first aircraft has just begun. With delivery of the aircraft not due until mid-2013, the airline is confident current technical issues will be resolved by Boeing.

The decision to amend the 787 order was reached at the end of 2012 and the agreement with Boeing has now been finalized.

The fleet changes announced will have no material impact on the Group’s planned capital expenditure, which remains unchanged at $1.8 billion for FY13 and $1.9 billion for FY14.

Top Copyright Photo: Peter Gates. Boeing 717-231 VH-NXN (msn 55095) of Cobham Aviation Services Australia operating as a QANTAS Link carrier poses for the camera at Brisbane.

QANTAS Link-Cobham Aviation Services Australia:

QANTAS Link-Sunstate Airlines:

Bottom Copyright Photo: John Adlard. Bombardier DHC-8-402 (Q400) VH-QOC (msn 4117) of Sunstate Airlines approaches the Sydney hub.

Hawaiian Airlines arrives in Brisbane with a special salute to the Southern Cross

Hawaiian Airlines (Honolulu) yesterday (November 27) continued its expansion into new international markets, with the launch of nonstop service to Brisbane, Australia, capital city of the State of Queensland.

Passengers on the inaugural flight departing Honolulu enjoyed a festive island-style send-off, featuring live Hawaiian music and hula, a traditional Hawaiian blessing by Kahu Richard Kamanu of Kaumakapili Church, and fresh flower lei upon boarding.

Brisbane is the second gateway city in Australia for the carrier. Hawaiian also offers nonstop daily flights between Sydney and Honolulu using its 294-seat, wide-body, twin-aisle Airbus A330-200 aircraft.

Hawaiian is the only U.S. carrier serving Brisbane, giving travelers in Hawai’i and throughout North America a convenient new travel alternative for experiencing the scenic beauty of Queensland – Australia’s “Sunshine State.”

Centrally located on Australia’s east coast, Brisbane is the gateway to a host of appealing sites and attractions for visitors to enjoy, including the world-famous Great Barrier Reef, world heritage listed rainforests, the iconic Outback territory, and the renowned leisure destinations of Australia’s Gold and Sunshine Coasts.

Hawaiian’s Flight HA 443 will depart Honolulu at 10:20 a.m. (1020) every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, cross the international dateline, and arrive in Brisbane at 4:00 p.m. (1600) the following day.

Starting November 28, the return flight HA 444 will depart Brisbane at 6:35 p.m. (1835) every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, cross the international dateline, and arrive in Honolulu at 8:05 a.m. (0805) the same day.

Hawaiian will operate its Honolulu-Brisbane service offering the comfort and roominess of its wide-body, twin-aisle Boeing 767-300 ER aircraft, seating 264 passengers in a two-class cabin, with 18 in Business Class and 246 in the Main Cabin.

The inaugural flight from Honolulu to Brisbane is also honoring the famed transpacific flight of the Southern Cross, which in June 1928 – the year before Hawaiian was founded – became the first aircraft to fly from Hawai’i to Brisbane.

Originating from Oakland, California, the Southern Cross captured international headlines with its successful completion of the world’s longest journey by air at the time.

Flown by Australian aviation pioneers Charles Kingsford Smith and Charles Ulm, the tri-engine Fokker monoplane took approximately 83 hours to fly from Kaua’i to Brisbane’s Eagle Farm airfield, stopping en route in Fiji for the pilots to take a one-day rest break.

In honor of Kingsford Smith and Ulm’s pioneering flight, Hawaiian has placed a commemorative image of the Southern Cross near the cockpit window of the Boeing 767-300 ER aircraft operating the inaugural flight.

Brisbane is the seventh of eight new destinations that Hawaiian has introduced or announced new service to since November 2010, following Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, and Sapporo, Japan; Seoul, South Korea; and New York City. Hawaiian will launch service to Auckland, New Zealand, on March 13, 2013.

Hawaiian’s continuing growth into new markets and expansion of existing operations in North America has been fueled by its long-haul fleet renewal and expansion program that began in June 2010. Since then, the company has welcomed nine new Airbus A330-200 aircraft to its fleet, and is scheduled to introduce 13 more A330s into service between 2013 and 2015.

Copyright Photo: PRNewsFoto/Hawaiian Airlines. Capt. Todd Mihara flashes a “shaka” sign, signaling ‘all clear’ from the cockpit of Hawaiian Airlines’ inaugural flight to Brisbane, Australia moments before departure from Honolulu on November 27. Below the cockpit window of Boeing 767-3CB ER N588HA (msn 33466) is a commemorative image of the Southern Cross in tribute to the pioneering flight between Hawaii and Brisbane in 1928, piloted by Australian aviators Charles Kingsford Smith and Charles Ulm. Sister ship N589HA also wears the special logo.

Hawaiian Airlines:

Virgin Australia makes three bold moves

Virgin Australia Holdings Limited (Virgin Australia Airlines) (Brisbane) is making three bold moves. The company issued the following statement:

Virgin Australia Holdings Limited today announced three transactions designed to accelerate the growth of the business, diversify its earnings and increase competition in Australia.

The transactions include:

making a placement of shares to Singapore Airlines (Singapore), which will see Singapore Airlines owning a 10% interest in Virgin Australia Holdings;
entering a Share Purchase Agreement to acquire 60% of the existing shares in Tiger Airways Australia (Melbourne) from Tiger Airways; and
entering an in-principle agreement with Skywest Airlines (Perth) to acquire 100% of its business.

Virgin Australia Chief Executive Officer John Borghetti said: “The transactions announced today are in line with Virgin Australia’s strategy to become the airline of choice in all markets, in order to diversify our earnings and drive growth opportunities for the business.

“The acquisition of Tiger Australia and Skywest provides Virgin Australia with a strong presence in the budget, Fly-in Fly-Out (FIFO) and regional markets, enabling us to fast-track our expansion in these areas and become a stronger competitor”, Mr Borghetti said.

“These transactions will bring important benefits to Australia, driving growth in jobs, tourism and competition”, Mr Borghetti said.

If approved, following the completion of the transactions, the Virgin Australia Group will expand to 139 aircraft and over 9,000 employees .

Virgin Australia will keep the market updated regarding progress on these transactions.

Meanwhile partner Singapore Airlines (Singapore) has ordered 20 Airbus A350-900s and five A380s and will assign its 20 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners to subsidiary Scoot (Singapore).

Top Copyright Photo: Lloyd Fox. If approved, Skywest Airlines (Perth) will become a 100% subsidiary of Virgin Australia. The regional carrier is already operating ATR 72-500s for Virgin Australia in their livery. The Skywest brand used for other Western Australia routes is now likely to disappear.

Virgin Australia:

Skywest Airlines:

Tiger Airways (Australia):

Bottom Copyright Photo: Micheil Keegan. Since Singapore Airlines and its Tiger Airways (Australia) subsidiary are now partners with Virgin Australia, it is unclear if Tiger Airways (Australia), a competitor of Virgin Australia, will continue to use the the Tiger Airways brand in Australia or operate now under the Virgin Australia name. Airbus A320-232 VH-VNO (msn 4053) climbs away from Sydney.