At a time of great change in the skies over Australia and Asia, Strategic Airlines – soon to be rebranded as Air Australia – believes it can still find a niche in a crowded marketplace.
Chief executive Michael James says Strategic will be chasing passengers who have been left behind by Virgin Australia’s new focus on corporate and higher-yield passengers.
The airline will move to its new low-cost business model from October 30 and will launch services to Honolulu from Brisbane and Melbourne on December 14.
For those trying to book Honolulu flights today, a message on the Strategic website said, “Due to overwhelming demand our website is experiencing high booking volumes.â€
Strategic is advertising one-way flights Brisbane to Honolulu from $499 including taxes, although a quick check for December flights indicated that most one-way flights were being sold for $599 and above.
A former freight operator, Strategic – which purchased the troubled airline OzJet in June 2009 – has recently withdrawn from Gladstone and Townsville and axed flights on the heavily-serviced Perth-Denpasar route.
It will enter the competitive Brisbane-Melbourne domestic route from December and boost frequency on the Brisbane-Bali route, as well as services to Phuket from Brisbane and Melbourne.
