Airline News
Virgin wins battle for Tigerair’s Bali flights
October 2nd 2015
Virgin Australia's budget subsidiary, Tigerair Australia, will launch Bali flights from Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth from March after the International Air Services Commission (IASC) ruled the carrier was an “Australian international airline”. Read More » The official nod came despite concerns raised by rival Qantas Airways, itself poised to resume seasonal flights to the resort island from December.
The IASC was advised by the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development in the matter, which said the budget carrier was in compliance with the norms of ownership and control specified under the Air Navigation Act, Australia’s The Age has reported. IASC reasoned there was a public benefit in allowing Tigerair Australia flights to Indonesia, which had average outbound traffic of 1.1 million passengers to July this year.
Virgin Australia chief, John Borghetti, has again expressed optimism his carrier would report a profit in 2016. It had losses of A$94 million in 2014-15 ($66 million) after an A$262 million improvement on the previous year.
“In the next two years, the Virgin Australia Group will focus on the Virgin Vision 2017 priorities of capitalising on growth opportunities, driving yield enhancement, implementing a new cost program, optimising the balance sheet, setting a new standard in customer experience and developing our people to their full potential,” Borghetti said.
Star Alliance chief, Markus Schwab, last week said Virgin Australia would fit in well should it choose to join the 28-airline alliance. However, the Star boss believed Virgin’s partnership with Delta Air Lines, which Australia’s ACCC recently reauthorized for another five years, and the airline’s strategy to work with carriers on a bilateral basis meant it would be unlikely to join anytime soon.
In other Down Under aviation news, Qatar Airways could introduce up to 21 weekly Doha-Sydney flights in the immediate future, following the completion of an updated air services agreement between Australia and Qatar. “[The new agreement] will allow for up to 21 flights each week, each way, for airlines of both countries to the major gateways, catering for growth in the Australia-Qatar and Australia-Europe routes,’’ starting immediately, deputy Australian Prime Minister, Warren Truss, said. Until now, Qatar has had access to Melbourne and Perth, unlike its Gulf counterparts, Emirates Airline and Etihad Airways, which have been flying Sydney-Gulf routes since 2003 and 2007, respectively.
At press time, Qatar was offering reservations for a daily two-class B777-300ER Doha-Sydney rotation from March 27.
