News
Virgin Australia says Perth-Abu Dhabi launch “no longer viable”
March 3rd 2017
Virgin Australia has dropped plans to launch a three times a week Perth-Abu Dhabi A330-200 route in June. “Subsequent changes in market conditions have made the route no longer viable for Virgin Australia,” the Brisbane-headquartered carrier said on Monday. Read More »
Virgin also cancelled its three times a week Sydney-Abu Dhabi B777-300ER flights last month. It now has no flights of its own to the hub of its key investor and strategic partner, Etihad Airways.
The CAPA consultancy said Etihad Airways partner carriers - airberlin, Alitalia, Jet Airways and Air Seychelles - have either dropped or reduced services to their cheque writer’s hub in recent months. The consultancy said this could be because Abu Dhabi is not a popular destination or that the partner airlines are facing significant difficulty accessing Etihad’s in-demand inventory.
CAPA added Etihad partners have said “they feel the partnership is unsustainable in practice and vastly different from the basis on which it was sold”.
Virgin is expected to deploy its ‘freed-up’ A330 capacity on new routes from Australia to Hong Kong and Mainland China as part of its alliance with HNA Aviation, Hong Kong Airlines and its affiliates.
