Virgin Blue

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

Virgin Blue
IATA DJ	ICAO VOZ	Callsign VIRGIN N1
Founded		2000
Hubs		Brisbane Airport Melbourne Airport Kingsford Smith International Airport (Sydney)
Focus cities		Adelaide Airport
Frequent flyer program		Velocity Rewards
Member lounge		The Lounge (formerly Blue Room)
Fleet size		52 (26 orders)
Destinations		25
Parent company		Virgin Blue Holdings Limited
Company slogan		Get What You Want
Headquarters		Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Key people		Sir Richard Branson (President) Brett Godfrey (CEO)
Website: www.virginblue.com.au

Virgin Blue Airlines Pty Ltd is an Australian ‘New World Carrier’ (NWC) and Australia's second-biggest airline.^[1] It was founded by British businessman Richard Branson's Virgin Group and is now majority controlled by Toll Holdings. It is based in Brisbane, Queensland, and is currently the third most profitable airline in the world, behind Brazil's GOL, and Ryanair.^[2]

Contents 1 History 2 New international services 2.1 Naming competition 3 Fleet 4 Incidents and accidents 5 The Lounge 6 Live2Air 7 Sponsorship and marketing 8 Controversy 9 Destinations 10 Associated carriers 11 Notes 12 References 13 External links

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 fortunate 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 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. 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 also created a low-cost airline Freedom Air (which will cease service in March 2008) and Qantas deployed Jetstar on selected NZ routes. Both Qantas (through Qantas and also its wholly owned NZ subsidiary Jetconnect operating as a Qantas branded franchise) and Air NZ continue to operate these routes in their own right. In August 2007, Virgin Blue announced their intention to begin domestic Pacific Blue services within New Zealand. Flights between Auckland and Wellington, Christchurch and Wellington and Auckland and Christchurch began on November 12 2007.

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. 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, due to the airline's recent focus on corporate customers. From its inception in 2000, Virgin Blue did not have interline or marketing alliances with any other airline. The first exception to this was after the collapse of its domestic competitor Ansett where it began 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 Airline, Hawaiian Airlines and Malaysia Airlines. Virgin Blue also has an Airline Agreement with Regional Express for Regional travellers. In November 2007, the airline announced an interline deal with international carrier Garuda Indonesia, offering easy transfer from a domestic Virgin Blue flight to an international Garuda service departing from Perth, Melbourne, Sydney or Darwin.^[3] Virgin Blue's name was the result of an open competition; it is a play on the predominantly red livery and the Australian slang tradition of calling a red-headed male 'Blue' or 'Bluey'.^[4]

New international services

For full article see V Australia In early 2006 Virgin Blue announced its intention to operate up to 7 flights a week to the US using either Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) or San Francisco International Airport (SFO), saying that the route was needed to make the airline as profitable as possible. The airline has also expressed interest in flying to Japan. They were granted approval for up to 10 flights a week from Australian regulatory bodies on July 25, 2007. They are still waiting on approval from the United States authorities. Virgin Blue has acquired six Boeing 777-300ER aircraft from Boeing for use on international routes.^[5] They will lease a seventh aircraft from ILFC.

Naming competition

The name of Virgin Blue's international airline was decided in the same way that Virgin Blue's own name was found, with a public naming competition conducted in early June 2007. On 25 June, 2007, Virgin Blue released the 8 finalists of the naming competition. They are as follows:

• Matilda Blue
• V Australia Airlines
• Australia Blue
• Virgin Pacific
• Amelia Blue
• Didgeree Blue
• Liberty Blue
• Virgin Australia

Australia Blue and Virgin Pacific were early favourites to win the competition, despite a problem with the latter, as Singapore Airlines (through their stake in Virgin Atlantic) have control over the use of the 'Virgin' name on International air routes, and have not, in the past, allowed its use (see Pacific Blue.) On July 25, 2007, it was announced by Virgin Blue that "V Australia" will be the name of the new carrier.^[6] Services are scheduled to begin in the second half of 2008.

Fleet

The Virgin Blue fleet consists of the following aircraft as of November 2007

Virgin Blue Fleet

Aircraft	Total	Passengers (Currently - Early 2008)	Passengers (Early 2008 onwards)	Notes
Boeing 737-700	22	144 (144 Y)	138-144 (0-12 W, 126-144 Y)	Virgin Blue will introduce 3 rows of convertible Premium Economy seats from early 2008[7]
Boeing 737-800	27 (9 orders)	177 (177 Y) 180 (180 Y)	171-177 (0-12 W, 159-177 Y) 174-180 (0-12 W, 162-180 Y)	Virgin Blue will introduce 3 rows of convertible Premium Economy seats from early 2008[8]
Embraer 170	3 (3 orders)	76 (76 Y)	76 (12 W, 64 Y)	The Premium Economy seats on the Embraer jets will not be convertible as Virgin already have a 2 x 2 configuration on these planes. They will still be sold as Economy according to demand.
Embraer 190	(14 orders)	104 (104 Y)	104 (12 W, 92 Y)	Entry into service: 2008
Boeing 777-300ER	6 (+1 order)			Entry into service: 2008

The average age of the Virgin Blue fleet is 3.9 years as of April 2006. 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.

In June 2006, Virgin Blue placed an order for 9 Boeing 737-800 by exercising purchase rights it held. Delivery of the aircraft is scheduled to begin in 2008 [5].

In November 2006, Virgin Blue announced plans to purchase 11 Embraer 190 and three Embraer 170 aircraft with options for six more E-Jets, which later became orders for 3 Embraer 170s and 3 Embraer 190s.^[9] These options are now exercised taking the total firm orders to 14 X E-190 and 6 x E170. Virgin Blue also holds another 3 options and 17 purchase rights on E-jets and have announced their intentions to possibly take the total fleets size to 40 E-jets if they perform to expectations. In January 2007, German newspaper Börsen Zeitung^[10] told of information that Virgin Blue is in the final stages of buying a brand new fleet of long distance Airbus or Boeing aircraft. This is to start new routes between Australia and long haul destinations in response to Jetstar recently starting long distance international routes. On February 19, 2007 Virgin Blue announced it had exercised the options for the additional Embraer E-Jets. In March 2007 Virgin Blue announced it would purchase six Boeing 777-300ER aircraft and lease a seventh, to be used on long-haul routes to the United States.^[11] 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. Blue received its first Embraer 170 in early September 2007 at a special ceremony at the Embraer plant in Sao Jose dos Campos.^[12] On October 24 Virgin announced that they will be introducing a Premium Economy service on all domestic flights. The first three rows of each aircraft will feature red leather seats that can be converted to a 2 x 2 Premium Economy configuration, or to Virgin's regular 3 x 3 economy configuration. The Premium Economy service will include an increased seat pitch and baggage allowance, priority boarding, access to The Lounge, as well as complimentary live2air in-flight entertainment. Because the seating configuration on the Embraer aircraft is already 2 x 2, the amount of seats on these flights will remain unchanged, but they still will carry the new Premium Economy product.^[13]

Incidents and accidents

In December 2005 a Virgin Blue Boeing 737-700 was flying from Townsville to Brisbane when a cockpit window cracked. The plane made an emergency landing at Brisbane Airport. Due to the rapid descent some passengers suffered ear discomfort and other minor injuries. In August 2007 a Virgin Blue Boeing 737 was flying from Brisbane to Hamilton Island when an engine was stopped. The plane made an emergency landing at Rockhampton Airport. It was a safe landing and no injuries were recorded. ^[14]

The Lounge

To capture a share of the business traveller market, Virgin Blue decided to provide a members lounge facility for travellers. Originally this was called The Blue Room and provided facilities to members and guests on a pay-as-you-go basis. In 2006, Virgin Blue revamped the lounge facilities and renamed it The Lounge, which offers all-inclusive facilities for a membership fee or casual fee basis. Facilities that are provided include buffet food and refreshments, newspapers, computers, and WiFi internet access for travellers. Currently they are located at Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Canberra airports.

Live2Air

In December 2006, Virgin Blue announced a partnership between Australian cable television providers Foxtel and Austar, to introduce a "Live2Air"^[15] service on all flights by mid 2007. Approximately half the fleet had been fitted with Live2Air facilities by March 2007. Virgin Blue was the first carrier outside North America to introduce multi-channel real-time satellite TV to its flights. The Live2Air service costs customers $5 per flight sector during an 'introductory period'. Following the 'introductory period', the service will cost $5 on flights under 2 hours and $10 on flights over 2 hours. The only payment method is via an in-seat credit card swipe facility. Debit cards cannot be used.

Sponsorship and marketing

On 8 February 2007, it was announced that Virgin Blue had signed a two year sponsorship deal with NRL team South Sydney Rabbitohs. The Rabbitohs are the first rugby league team Virgin Blue has sponsored.^[16] Boeing 737-800 VH-VUA has slight changes to its livery to commerorate this sponsorship. The Australian flag held by the 'Virgin Girl' replaced with the Rabbitohs flag. For the 2007 Super 14 season, Virgin Blue is the sleeve sponsor for Queensland Reds. Virgin Blue is also the official sponsor of the (Australian) National Basketball League (NBL), and the title sponsor of NBL team the Brisbane Bullets. ^[17]

Controversy

• In 2003 A man with a disability and having incomplete quadriplegia was removed from a Virgin Blue flight because staff thought he was drunk or a terrorist. He subsequently settled a lawsuit against the airline.^[18]
• In January 2007 Virgin Blue attracted controversy when its staff at Adelaide Airport ordered a passenger to remove a T-shirt bearing the slogan 'World's Number One Terrorist' above an image of George W. Bush. The wearer, Allen Jasson of London, was informed that the garment was potentially offensive. Jasson had also experienced difficulty on earlier flights with Qantas. A spokeswoman for Virgin Blue defended the decision.^[19]
• In April 2007 the airline lost a discrimination case appeal, over the age of flight attendants they employed. Eight former flight attendants from another airline had applied for employment with Virgin Blue but none had gained work, claiming that age was a factor in the case. They won compensation for this discrimination in March 2006, however the airline appealed against this decision, a move which failed and the company was ordered to pay costs.^[20]

  Tribunal member Douglas Savage found that the assessors were biased against older women, and that the company had failed to offer a reasonable explanation for why no one over 36 was employed as cabin crew during the airline's recruitment drive between 2001 and 2002

• In May 2006 a controversy arose over Virgin Blue's policy with regard to passengers with disabilities. 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".^[21] 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.^[22][23] 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 .^[24] In a media release on 29 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".

Destinations

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.

Notes

1. ^  Virgin Blue has a written agreement with Virgin Atlantic for Virgin Blue to use the 'Virgin' callsign domestically in Australia. Outside of Australia it cannot be used, hence why separate brands like Pacific Blue (Callsign, Bluebird) have been formed.

References

External links

• Virgin Blue
• Virgin Blue Fleet Detail
• Airliners.net Virgin Blue Photos

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