Tony Bailey

The following appeared in a Travel Trade
newsletter late yesterday-

Virgin Blue unveils trans-Tasman flight plans

Virgin Blue plans to fly to New Zealand, Fiji and
Vanuatu from October this year.

The carrier has applied to the International Air
Services Commission (IASC) for capacity to
inaugurate air services between Australia and New
Zealand, as well as Fiji and Vanuatu.

It requested unlimited capacity on the New Zealand
route for a five-year period, in terms of the open
route structure of the Australia New Zealand Air
Services Agreement.

It plans to use a brand name other than Virgin
Blue on the route, which is yet to be announced,
and to fly B737-800 and 737-700 aircraft.

The carrier says 'full' utilization of the
capacity will contingent on a satisfactory outcome
to the proposed Qantas/Air New Zealand alliance.

The alliance would see the Australian carrier
acquire 22.5 per cent of its New Zealand rival.

Virgin has already applied to the regulatory
authorities in both countries to force the
airlines to undertake structural changes to the
alliance proposal to enure a level playing field
on the route.

Its application to the IASC for capacity between
Australia and Fiji is for 1260 seats per week
between Australia and Fiji for a five year period.

It has requested 720 seats weekly each way between
Australia and Vanuatu for a period of one year.

16 June 2003



--
Tony Bailey
Mercury World Travel
Mercury Travel Books
[email protected]

A.Tubbs

Hi there
Snipped
Tony Bailey wrote
    > It plans to use a brand name other than Virgin
    > Blue on the route, which is yet to be announced,
    > and to fly B737-800 and 737-700 aircraft.

Try PacificBlue

Cheers
Anthony Tubbs