Pacific Blue to exit Domestic NZ flight Operations

[serfty]

Pacific Blue pulling out of NZ domestic flights | Stuff.co.nz

Pacific Blue is to exit its New Zealand domestic operations as part of a wider review of its network.

The airline will also boost trans-Tasman services and generally increase its Australian services to South East Asia and the Pacific Islands.

Virgin Blue Group of Airlines chief executive John Borghetti said the ongoing network review was aimed at delivering increased competition and capturing growth opportunities. ...

I guess this is first part start of the NZ/DJ co-operative venture.

 

[notzac]

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/bus...ls-route-changes/story-e6frg95x-1225905776698

Also of note - the VA SYD/LAX flight has been retimed to a morning departure starting in December this year, and frequencies on MEL/LAX, MEL/JNB and MEL/HKT are all set to increase in December as well.

Sensible round of changes

 

[markis10]

Say goodbye to the NAN non-express SC run.

 

[gilby08]

Virgin Blue unveils route changes | The Australian

Also of note - the VA SYD/LAX flight has been retimed to a morning departure starting in December this year, and frequencies on MEL/LAX, MEL/JNB and MEL/HKT are all set to increase in December as well.

Sensible round of changes

And pulling out their 777 on their SYD-NAN route. I assume it would be the same for HKT?

 

[samh004]

Seems a little strange to me because at least in ZQN, they have advertising for Pacific Blue all over the airport. I understand it's probably part of the ANZ alliance though, which I hope starts soon and earns SC's.

 

[docjames]

Say goodbye to the NAN non-express SC run.

Why? Isnt that FJ? So how are they impacted on this decision? Or did you mean DJ SC run?

 

[markis10]

Why? Isnt that FJ? So how are they impacted on this decision? Or did you mean DJ SC run?

QF and FJ lowered their J fares to compete with the J class fare from V, with that gone there is no competition, and QF wont compete with FJ when FJ are the carrier.

 

[crazydave98]

And pulling out their 777 on their SYD-NAN route. I assume it would be the same for HKT?

No, in fact we recently announced an additional MEL-HKT service (at same time as additional MEL-JNB, MEL-LAX and SYD-LAX services - all to be operated with 5th aircraft). Only NAN is losing B777s.
cheers
CrazyDave98

 

[haydensydney]

A couple of "bummers" for me:

1. VA SYD-LAX route to am departure: I always like the look of a evening departure i.e. I could leave work, go to the airport and hop on the flight, without having to "waste" a day of annual leave to catch a am depature

2. SYD-NAN on Pacific Blue... no thanks. Would rather fly NZ via AKL or slum it on Air Pacific.

It's always sad seeing a carrier leave a market, and in New Zealands example won't help drive fares lower. At least JQ is still floating around to keep NZ honest

 

[markis10]

Looks like October is a happening month, with the new 3 class 737 config due to be delivered, changes in 777 ops and hopefully the widebody announcement that will see 6 airframes operating domestically by Feb, possibly EK A330's as an interim measure.

 

[docjames]

Looks like October is a happening month, with the new 3 class 737 config due to be delivered, changes in 777 ops and hopefully the widebody announcement that will see 6 airframes operating domestically by Feb, possibly EK A330's as an interim measure.

Do you have a (publishable) source for this :?:

 

[gilby08]

Do you have a (publishable) source for this :?:

What i find interesting but not suprising is that none of the media outlets have had a headline of "Virgin ditches in NZ", or "Virgin leave pax strandard".

 

[markis10]

Do you have a (publishable) source for this :?:

Yes, it was in the flight global ANZ blog a few weeks ago, I will dig it up.

Edit : It was discussed here:

http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/community/virgin-blue-velocity/dj-widebodies-on-the-way-24459.html

I note you made comments

 

[crazydave98]

What i find interesting but not suprising is that none of the media outlets have had a headline of ...."Virgin leave pax strandard".

That's because we didn't leave them stranded - we have rebooked them mostly on AirNZ and some on Jetstar. We are not Tiger whose SOP is to just announce the cancellation offer a refund and tell the pax they are on their own leaving them to book expensive last minute fares on other carriers.

 

[markis10]

That's because we didn't leave them stranded - we have rebooked them mostly on AirNZ and some on Jetstar. We are not Tiger whose SOP is to just announce the cancellation offer a refund and tell the pax they are on their own leaving them to book expensive last minute fares on other carriers.

And they are getting free Airpoints membership, saving $50 as well!

 

[crazydave98]

And they are getting free Airpoints membership, saving $50 as well!

very clever (and quick) those Kiwis - remember them offering cheap fares to Jetstar pax who were inconvienced by spectacularly bad start up operations?

 

[serfty]

very clever (and quick) those Kiwis - remember them offering cheap fares to Jetstar pax who were inconvienced by spectacularly bad start up operations?

Not to mention those NZ based WP who were offered AirPoints Gold Elite status when QF handed their intra NZ operation to JQ.

 

[Joshua]

It's good to here DJ and NZ handling the situation well. I'm glad to say I at least tried Pacific Blue, sadly there were and equal number of pax to crew and this was between WLG and CHC. Surprised this took so long actually.

On a side note, does anyone know if held seats with QF get affected by fare changes or just tax and fuel? ie. would it be good to put a few NAN trips on hold at this point to cover any fare increase - thinking less of SC and more an actual holiday

 

[pauly7]

Another win for QF Group... I can hear the cheers in JQ NZ from here!

Expect a 'Bye Bye Virgin' sale or something equally cheeky in mmmmm 10 hours tops I reckon.

Its a smart move though, they need to prune back the weak and loss making parts of the airline (e.g. Pac Blue, and a bunch of Aus routes will follow I'm sure) in order to strengthen them for the next stage of moving upmarket.

Some will say they are letting JQ off easy in NZ but I think its probably the correct move. Plus I'm sure AirNZ demanded they disappear as a part of their arrangement!

 

[moa999]

Jetstar response
By Nicole Stevens
SYDNEY, Aug 16 AAP - Low-cost carrier Jetstar plans to increase it's fledgling New Zealand operations, taking advantage of Virgin Blue's departure from the market.
The airline, owned by Qantas, says it will add two extra A320 aircraft to its eight strong NZ fleet to support more domestic and trans-Tasman routes.
This includes the launch of Melbourne to Queenstown, Gold Coast to Queenstown and Auckland to Cairns services.
Jetstar chief Bruce Buchanan said the airline would increase flights from Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington in advance of the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
"We plan to further grow our existing domestic NZ routes and will investigate new destinations in line with our strong and expanding market presence since commencing domestic flying in June 2009," he said.

Qantas
Sure they also won't be too unhappy about Pac Blue aircraft (presumably NZOC and flag) flying more TransTasman as it provides more reason for Jetconnect