Virgin group chairman Richard Branson is planning to launch a new Australian international airline. Branson said he hoped to be operating the new airline within the next nine months, depending on aircraft availability.
The new carrier would focus on US, China and Japan routes, and would most likely be separate to Virgin Blue and its international arm, Pacific Blue.
The main target is considered to be the profitable Sydney to Los Angeles route,
currently operated only by Qantas and United Airlines.
And his interest in Australia doesn't end there. The Virgin Group has set its sights on Australia�s $649 billion superannuation industry.
Branson will invest $30 million - his largest investment in Australia - into the new superannuation business aimed at individual investors.
Virgin Money managing director Rohan Gamble said the super industry was classic
Virgin territory. "Our research suggests that consumers are sick of high fees,
confused by complex documentation and often duped by financial planners who
pretend to provide impartial advice when in reality they're on the payrolls of
the super funds," Gamble said.
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Rumours about the 'imminent' launch of Virgin Blue's frequent flyer
program are circulating again.
Sir Richard said an announcement would be made 'soon' about a scheme
likely to be linked to other Virgin companies. "The big push
is going to be for the business market and we've got a frequent
flyer program ... which will, I think, knock Qantas's frequent flyer
program into touch," he said.
"Qantas's frequent flyer program is not very popular so I think it's a
very opportune time for us to come in there and hopefully we can do to
the business market what we've done to the economy class market."
Asked if the scheme would give free flights for a number of paid
journeys, Sir Richard said: "I think it might be a bit more interesting
than that but we'll see. I've asked not to be drawn on it today but I'm
sure some of the other Virgin companies will also be involved ... Virgin
Credit Card and Virgin Atlantic."
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The world's biggest airliner, the European Airbus A380, took to the air for the first time
last month. The double-decker A380, designed to carry 555 passengers but
with room for more than 800 is as long as eight London buses and with enough room on its wings to park 70 cars!
Thousands of enthusiasts cheered outside the perimeter fence as the plane, carrying a six-man test crew, landed after completing a series of tests of equipment and in-flight procedures on the world's heaviest commercial airliner.
"You handle (this aircraft) as you handle a bicycle. It's very, very easy to fly," chief test pilot Jacques Rosay said after fellow pilot Claude Lelaie landed the $US285 million ($366.8 million) plane.
Qantas will take delivery of the first of 12 A380s in October 2006. CEO
Geoff Dixon said said the airline would operate its A380s in a three-class, 501-seat configuration on international services between Australia and the US and on the kangaroo route to the UK.
Metal cutlery is back for passengers on British-based airlines after the country relaxed its anti-terrorism regulations regarding air travel.
Britain�s transport department said airlines were no longer required to weed out
the household goods since security improvements -- including sealed cockpits,
closed-circuit TV cameras and sky marshals -- had made flights safer.
Sharp household items were banned from commercial flights following the
September 11 attacks in the US in 2001.
But back at home, Australia is maintaining its ban on metal cutlery and sharp household objects such as knitting needles on international flights.
A spokesman for federal transport minister John Anderson said there are no plans to change the rules over banned items.
The spokesman said the list of banned items was comprehensive and common sense, and anyone breaching the rules faced harsh penalties including a possible jail sentence.
Iris scan system for Heathrow
London Heathrow have introduced a new security system with face-to-face passport
controls replaced by iris scans for non-European Union passengers.
Passengers who do not hold an EU passport and travel regularly through Heathrow
will be invited to have their iris patterns photographed and stored in a
database. On repeat visit to the UK, these passengers will therefore be
able to avoid the long queues at passport control. The Home Office has
predicted more than one million people will be registered in the system within
five years. The system has been introduced on a trial basis at Frankfurt
Airport as well as some US airports and in Sweden.
Japan warns travellers about dangerous Australia
Japan has claimed Australia's high crime rates have prompted the government to issue a travel advisory warning tourists to beware of thieves.
The advisory from Japan�s Foreign Ministry warns travellers that �due to
Australia's extremely high rate of theft and muggings, tourists to Australia's
Gold Coast region should not to leave valuables in locked hotel rooms and should
keep a tight grip on hand and shoulder bags�.
Meanwhile,
Australia is becoming the tourist �darling� of Chinese tourists. China Business Weekly claims that an increasing number of Chinese mature travellers are heading to Australia for holidays, eager to spend their new-found wealth. China is currently Australia�s second largest Asian tourist market, with strong growth potential.
A blocked toilet caused chaos at Hobart Airport last month when baggage handlers mistook a putrid toilet smell for a dangerous gas leak and evacuated the building. Around 30 passengers and airline staff were rushed from the Qantas domestic airport terminal as a precaution.
The Aviation Fire and Rescue Service and Tasmania Fire Service attended the scene and discovered that the foul smell was not inherently dangerous, but was actually seeping from a blocked toilet!
Meanwhile, an inquiry has failed to identify what sickened almost 60 people at Virgin Blue's Melbourne terminal
in February. But the inquiry into the incident did identify shortfalls in
the response of emergency services to the drama.
