Virgin Blue

For the company that owns Virgin Blue see Virgin Blue Holdings Limited.

Virgin Blue is an Australian low-cost airline and Australia's second-biggest airline. It was founded by the British businessman Richard Branson's Virgin Group and is now majority controlled by Toll Holdings. It is based in Brisbane, Queensland.

History

Virgin Blue was launched on 3 August 2000, with two aircraft initially offering 7 return flights a day between Brisbane and Sydney. This has been expanded to cover all major Australian cities and many holiday destinations.

The timing of Virgin Blue's entry into the Australian market was fortuitous as it was able to fill the vacuum created by the failure of Ansett in September 2001. Ansett's failure allowed Virgin Blue to grow rapidly to become Australia's second domestic carrier, rather than just a cut-price alternative to the established players. It also gave them access to terminal space without which growth would have been significantly limited. Delays in negotiating access to the former Ansett terminal at Sydney Airport however forced Virgin Blue to initially use a temporary terminal there.

Virgin Blue Boeing 737

Virgin Group's holding in Virgin Blue has since been reduced, initially via a sale of a half interest to Australian logistics conglomerate Patrick Corporation, and later by a public float. In early 2005 Patrick launched a hostile takeover for Virgin Blue. Patrick had been unhappy for some time with the company's direction. By the closure of the offer, Patrick held 62% of the company, giving it control. Virgin Group retains a 25% share.In May 2006 Toll Holdings acquired Patrick and became the majority owner of Virgin Blue.

Virgin Blue uses a familiar formula pioneered by airlines such as Southwest Airlines and Ryanair eliminating costs such as included in-flight meals and printed tickets in favour of selling food on-board and using telephone and internet booking systems. It has also cut costs by limiting the number of airports serviced and by operating one type of aircraft, the Boeing 737. It also pays its employees less than its major rival Qantas.

In September 2003, Virgin Blue announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Pacific Blue, would offer a similar cheaper service between New Zealand and mainland Australia. Pacific Blue aims to position itself as a low-cost competitor to Air New Zealand and Qantas on trans-Tasman routes. Air New Zealand have also created a low-cost airline Freedom Air and Qantas deployed Jetstar on selected NZ routes. Both Qantas (through Qantas and also its wholly owned NZ subsidiary Jetconnect) and Air NZ continue to operate these routes in their own right.

Virgin Blue Boeing 737-800 at Melbourne

Qantas responded to Virgin Blue's lower cost base by creating a new low-cost domestic carrier, Jetstar in 2004. In May 2005 Jetstar announced that it would also commence services to Christchurch, New Zealand and in 2006 many other overseas destinations.

In early 2006 Virgin Blue announced its intention to operate up to 7 flights a week to the US using Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), saying that the route was needed to make the airline as profitable as possible. The airline has also expressed interest in flying to Japan.

If Virgin Blue is successful in gaining a licence to fly the route it may acquire several Boeing 777-300 to operate on long-haul services.

Virgin Blue's international operations would be similar to those of Virgin Atlantic with stand-up bars and limo services, for guests in the business-class cabin.

Like other brands in the Virgin family, Virgin Blue takes an informal and humorous approach to business. On one flight, Richard Branson held a toilet paper race down the aisle of a Virgin Blue plane. Its inflight food menu is named A La Cart (a parody of the manner that food is served using a cart). However, this attitude has been reviewed, with many critical of the cabin crew's approach to inflight safety demonstrations, as well as the loud rock music played over the inflight PA system during takeoff and landing.

From its inception in 2001, Virgin Blue did not have interline or marketing alliances with other airlines outside the Virgin Group, similar to the long-standing approach of Southwest Airlines. The one exception to this plan was a codeshare agreement with United Airlines, which allowed United customers to fly from America to any of Virgin Blue's Australian destinations that United did not already serve. In 2006, in an effort to be more competitive with arch rival Qantas, Virgin Blue started exploring these relationships, forming frequent flyer agreements with Emirates and Hawaiian Airlines and Malaysia Airlines. Virgin Blue also has an Airline Agreement with Regional Express for Regional Travelers

Fleet

Initially Virgin Blue leased their aircraft but recent additions to the fleet have generally been purchased outright. Virgin Blue owned aircraft are indicated by the Boeing customer code FE.

The average age of the Virgin Blue fleet is 3.9 years (at April 2006)

In June 2006, it placed an order for 9 Boeing 737-800 by exercising purchase rights it held. Delivery of the aircraft is scheduled to begin in 2008.

In November 2006, Virgin Blue announced plans to purchase 11 Embraer 190 and three Embraer 170 aircraft, with options for six more E-jets.^[1]

Nose art from VH-VBH "Spirit of Salty"

Disabled passengers

In May 2006 a controversy arose over Virgin Blue's policy with regard to disabled passengers. Chief Executive Brett Godfrey affirmed the policy of the company that passengers who were "unable to look after themselves on board should travel with carers".[2]

After a hearing in the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Virgin Blue backed down from this policy, agreeing to limit it to passengers weighing over 130 kg.[3][4]

However the Chair of the ACT Disability Advisory Council, Craig Wallace, who uses a wheelchair, was refused passage on a Virgin Blue flight booked for 8 October 2006 .[5] In a media release on 29th September, ACTDAC claimed that "Virgin Blue has also refused to refund $418 in fares from the flight for Mr Wallace or Council staff. Ironically, they have listed these fares as a ‘credit’ – a credit Mr Wallace or other people in his situation are prohibited from accessing by Virgin’s own policy".

Trivia

Virgin Blue's name was the result of an open competition; the predominantly red livery is due to the Australian slang tradition of calling a red-headed male 'Blue' or 'Bluey'.

Like "big brother" Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Blue gives its planes imaginative and amusing names. Each aircraft also features a "virgin girl" as nose art, complete with a wide-brimmed Aussie hat, trailing an Australian flag.

Services

Further information: Virgin Blue destinations

Associated carriers

• Pacific Blue (airline) - Operates trans-Tasman services and also services the Pacific Islands.
• Polynesian Blue - a joint venture between Virgin Blue and The Samoan Government, Polynesian Blue operates direct flights Apia - Sydney - Apia and Apia - Auckland - Apia with many other connections to other cities.

References

1. ^ [1] Virgin spends up on new planes

External links

• Virgin Blue
• Virgin Blue Fleet Age
• Virgin Blue Fleet Detail
• Virgin Blue vs Qantas
• Fleet Listing
• Virgin Blue Passenger Opinions
• Airliners.net Virgin Blue Photos
• Pacific Blue
• virginbrand.com Unofficial blog of the Virgin Group

See also

• Virgin Express

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