Virgin Blue boss John Borghetti has set the stage for a battle with Qantas in two key areas: long haul flights to the United States and intra-state services in Western Australia.
Ex Qantas executive Borghetti launched the first phase of the group’s widely flagged network review with a move to withdraw Pacific Blue from New Zealand domestic routes and redeploy those aircraft onto trans-Tasman and medium haul international operations.
V Australia will operate daily services between Sydney and Los Angeles, with morning departures from Sydney.
“By restructuring our Pacific Blue operations we are now able to free up our long haul V Australia aircraft to capture the growing demand for travel to the USA,†Borghetti said.
“By year-end, V Australia will be fully devoted to international long haul business more suited to the B777 fleet, with Fiji serviced by Pacific Blue.â€
Phuket, Bali and Christchurch will see more Pacific Blue flights while Virgin Blue is eyeing the Western Australian intra-state market – also being targeted by Qantas.
Air New Zealand has agreed to a Virgin request to carry thousands of passengers disrupted by Pacific Blue’s withdrawal of domestic services.
