Virgin Australia Airlines (Brisbane) has announced that it will introduce nonstop services between Darwin and Alice Springs from the end of March 2015, to coincide with the opening of the new Virgin Australia Lounge in Darwin.
The airline will introduce this new weekly schedule of services using its Boeing 737 aircraft.
Copyright Photo: Colin Hunter/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-8FE ZK-PBA (msn 33796) arrives in Auckland, New Zealand.
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Virgin Australia Airlines (Brisbane) and Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) have announced they will be expanding their partnership in North America, adding three new destinations as part of their codeshare agreement.
Customers of both airlines will now be able to fly from Australia to Nashville, Kansas City and Raleigh/Durham as part of the allianceโs continued commitment to strengthening its footprint in the US market.
The growing alliance between the two airlines, which was launched in 2011, now offers Australians access to over 245 destinations across North and Central America.
Flights between Los Angeles and Nashville will operate daily, Los Angeles to Kansas City services will operate twice a day and 10 flights per week will be available on the Los Angeles to Raleigh/Durham route.
Virgin Australia and Delta Air Lines fly from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane into Los Angeles allowing customers to connect onto Delta Air Linesโ extensive North and Central American network.
In other news, Virgin Australia also announced that for the first time it is offering a codeshare flight with South Africaโs largest carrier, South African Airways.
Virgin Australia will commence codeshare on South African Airwaysโ daily nonstop services from Perth to Johannesburg. This follows the launch of South African Airwaysโ codeshare on Virgin Australiaโs daily services from Perth to Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney earlier this year.
South African Airways operates daily nonstop services between Johannesburg and Perth with Airbus A340-300s and Airbus A340-600s.
Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 777-3ZG ER VH-VOZ (msn 35302) arrives in ย Los Angeles.
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Virgin Australia Airlines (Brisbane) meanwhileย posted a half year loss of A$83.7 million ($75 million US). The carrier blamed the loss on too much capacity.
Read the full report: CLICK HERE
Meanwhile Virgin Australia has responded back to QANTAS, claiming the airline is flooding the market so that both carriers lose money. Read the response and video from the Sydney Morning Herald: CLICK HERE
Copyright Photo: Micheil Keegan/AirlinersGallery.com. Embraer ERJ 190-100 IGW VH-ZPR (msn 19000424) arrives in Perth in Western Australia.
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Virgin Australia Airlines (Brisbane) has officially launched its new wireless in-flight entertainment system, representing a new era in the way travelers experience entertainment in the sky according to the airline.
The entertainment platform is the first of its kind in the Asia Pacific region, giving customers the ability to stream content to their own devices, including smartphones, laptops and tablets, through in-built wireless technology on board.
Following a successful trial earlier this year, Virgin Australia is now extending the wireless innovation across its domestic and short-haul international network. Thirty-seven aircraft are now fitted out with the new technology, including aircraft operating on routes to New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, which went live today.
The roll-out across Virgin Australiaโs Boeing 737-800 and Embraer ERJ 190 fleet will be complete before the end of the year.
Since the trial started in August 2012, the App has been downloaded close to 200,000 times.
The wireless in-flight entertainment system supports Wi-Fi-enabled Apple iOS devices (iPadยฎ; iPhoneยฎ; iPod touchยฎ), Android devices (phone or tablet) and Windows laptops. To access the system, download the free โIn-flight Entertainment by Virgin Australiaโ App to your phone or tablet, or have the latest version of Microsoft Silverlight downloaded on your laptop.
Copyright Photo: Roy Lock/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 777-3ZG ER VH-VOZ (msn 35302) taxies to the gate at Los Angeles International Airport.
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Etihad Airways (Abu Dhabi) has no intention of joining one of the traditional airline alliances. Instead it is quickly building an alliance of aligned airlines in which its has an equity share. The latest target is reportedly loss-making Alitalia (2nd) (Rome).
Alitalia, which is currently 25 percent owned by the Airย France-KLM Group (Air France and KLM are code-share partners of Etihad), was rescued from bankruptcy in 2008. It was acquired by a consortium of Italian companies including bank Intesa Sanpaolo and is reportedly discussing with Etihad Airways about a possible new partnership according to this report by Reuters.
Read the full report: CLICK HERE
Meanwhile Etihad Airways is moving ahead to increase its equity in Virgin Australia Airlines (Brisbane), following recent approval by the Foreign Investment Review Board to increase from a 10 percent shareholding to 19.9 percent.
Etihad Airways equity alliance is a planned alternative to the legacy airline alliances. The Etihad equity alliance now has five members, following a deal to invest in Serbiaโs national airline, Air Serbia (Belgrade).
Etihad Airways also is awaiting regulatory approval for investment in a sixth airline, Indiaโs Jet Airways (Mumbai), which gives the equity alliance a combined total of more than 420 destinations, 500 aircraft and more than 96 million passengers each year.
In other news, Etihad Airways has announced new servicesย for the Australia market including:
Copyright Photo: Paul Denton/AirlinersGallery.com. Painted in the special Formula 1 livery to promote the Abu Dhabi’s Grand Prix, Airbus A340-642X A6-EHJ (msn 933) climbs away from the runway at Geneva.
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Virgin Australia Airlines (Brisbane) has announced a reciprocal code share and frequent flyer agreement with Airberlin (Berlin), Germanyโs second largest airline.
The code share flights commence on August 1, 2013, subject to government approval, Virgin Australia will code share on Airberlinโs daily direct services from Abu Dhabi to Dusseldorf and Berlin. Airberlin will also code share on Virgin Australiaโs Abu Dhabi to Sydney service, its Phuket to Perth service and on nine of its domestic services within Australia.
As part of the new agreement, members of Virgin Australiaโs loyalty program Velocity Frequent Flyer and Airberlinโs top bonus program will receive reciprocal benefits, with the ability to earn and redeem Points or miles, regardless of which airline is operating the flight.
Airberlin operates daily direct services between Abu Dhabi and Berlin and between Abu Dhabi and Dusseldorf. The Airbus A330-200 operated services offer Full Flat seats with a massage function and 15 inch LED monitors in Business Class ensuring a superior level of comfort. In Economy Class, Airberlin offer new seats with anti-thrombosis cushions, a complimentary drinks service and a new in-seat entertainment system.
Top Copyright Photo: John Adlard/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A330-243 VH-XFC (msn 1293) arrives at the Sydney hub.
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Bottom Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A330-223 D-ABXA (msn 288) in the Oneworld scheme taxies to the runway at Palma de Mallorca.
Virgin Australia Airlines (Brisbane) has announced that from August 15, 2013 it will commence services between Melbourne and Hamilton Island.
The airline will operate its Boeing 737-800 aircraft on the new route with 8 Business Class and 168 Economy Class seats.
The flights will depart Melbourne at 8:30 am (0830) on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, arriving into Hamilton Island at 11:30 am (1130). The return flight departs Hamilton Island at midday (1200) on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays arriving into Melbourne at 3:00 pm (1500). During off-peak months (between February and June), services will only operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
Copyright Photo: Micheil Keegan/AirlinersGallery.com.ย Boeing 737-8FE WL VH-YIA (msn 37824) prepares to land at Perth.
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Domestic Route Map:
Video: Hamilton Island.
Virgin Australia Airlines (Brisbane) has announced that from October this year, it will operate its Airbus A330 aircraft on all Perth-Sydney weekday flights.
The introduction of a seventh Airbus A330 to Virgin Australiaโs fleet later this year will see these aircraft operate all Perth-Sydney and Perth-Melbourne weekday services and two out of three Perth-Brisbane weekday services.
The airline now offers all customers on flights between Perth and the East Coast fully inclusive hot meals and beverages, as well as in-flight entertainment.
โWe have had an extremely positive response to the introduction of our Airbus A330 โCoast To Coastโ service and we are very pleased to now be offering this on all Perth-Sydney and Perth-Melbourne weekday flights.
The Airbus A330 aircraft feature Virgin Australiaโs designer Business and Economy Class product, which includes luxury leather seating, generous seat recline and a range of gourmet food offerings.
In other news,ย Virgin Australia has announced flights to Milan, Italy and Amsterdam, Netherlands will be added to its codeshare agreement with Etihad Airways (Abu Dhabi) from June 3, 2013.
The announcement follows recent regulatory approvals being granted allowing Virgin Australia to codeshare on flights into Italy and the Netherlands.
Customers travelling on Virgin Australiaโs network will be able to connect through Abu Dhabi on to Milan or Amsterdam on the same ticket. Velocity Frequent Flyer members will also be able to earn points and status credits on these routes.
The codeshare flight between Abu Dhabi and Milan will be operated by a two-class Airbus A330-200 seven times per week. Abu Dhabi to Amsterdam will be operated by a two-class Airbus A330-200 seven times per week. Etihad and Virgin Australia fly 28 times per week from Australia to Abu Dhabi, connecting to 14 codeshare destinations in Europe.
This is a continuation of the roll-out of Virgin Australiaโs alliance with Etihad Airways, which already includes 50 codeshare and interline destinations globally. Virgin Australia will continue to work closely with Etihad Airways to develop a network aligned with the needs of their customers.
Etihad Airways currently operates flights from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane into Abu Dhabi.
Copyright Photo: Olivier Gregoire/AirlinersGallery.com.
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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 newย Boeing 737-8FE WL VH-YFF (msn 40994) and crew pass through Honolulu on delivery.
Above Copyright Photo: Virgin Australia.
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Bottom Copyright Photo: Peter Gates/AirlinersGallery.com. Tiger Airways’ย Airbus A320-232 VH-VNH (msn 3734) stops at Brisbane.
Romance is Back Video:
Virgin Australia Airlines (Brisbane) has received the approval of the High Court in Singapore to acquire Skywest Airlines (Perth). Previously theย Australian Foreign Investment Review Board cleared the merger and Virgin Australia on March 13 receivedย approval from Skywest Airlines Ltdย shareholders of the proposed acquisition of 100% of the issued share capital of Skywest, pursuant to a scheme of arrangementย 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.ย ATR 72-212A (ATR 72-500) VH-FVI (msn 955) is pictured on the ramp at Brisbane.
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Skywest Airlines operates an extensive route network under its own brand in Western Australia.
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