Aviation News. 05.2018

F

or much of the 20th Century,

Australian air travel was dominated

by a long-standing duopoly.

Historically, domestic  ights across

the nation had been the arena of just two

airlines; Ansett Australia and Trans Australian

Airways (later called Australian Airlines).

This arrangement was no accident. It was

a government-mandated setup stemming from

a highly regulated aviation sector, designed to

protect carriers serving Australia’s small yet

widely dispersed population. Dubbed the ‘two

airline policy’, the legislation protected Ansett

and Australian Airlines from competition on

mainline domestic routes across the country.

Flight schedules between cities, timetables

and even aircraft  own were mirrored between

the two airlines, leading to very little product

differentiation or price competitiveness

between them.

This began to change in the 1990s,

when the Australian Government started to

deregulate the sector. International airline

Qantas (then state-owned) was merged with

Australian Airlines, effectively ceding half

of the nation’s domestic traffic to the ‘ ying

kangaroo’. In the early years of deregulation,

the situation across Australia remained

relatively unchanged as Qantas and Ansett

retained a duopoly into the 21st Century.

There had been several unsuccessful

attempts to overcome the dominance of the

established carriers. Compass Airlines tried

in 1990 with Airbus A300s and again in 1992

using smaller McDonnell Douglas MD-80s.

Later, Impulse Airlines grew its regional  eet

to include Boeing 717s and started  ying

on key routes on the Australian east coast.

However, Qantas ultimately acquired this

venture.

ENTER VIRGIN BLUE

It took the vision of British entrepreneur

Sir Richard Branson to truly change the

Australian airline sector. He was well aware

of the opportunities for a third carrier, having

travelled ‘down under’ many times as the

head of the Virgin brand.

In August 2000, under the direction of

Branson and founding CEO Brett Godfrey, a

new airline took to the sky. Virgin Blue began

its  rst  ights between Sydney and Brisbane

using just two leased Boeing 737-400s.

From day one it made an impact on

the market. The no-frills carrier offered

affordable  ights for a leisure market that

had never before enjoyed such choice

or  exibility. Its energetic staff ensured a

quality travel experience, while advertising

focused on the company’s mission to open

up the nation’s skies for everyone.

Rob Sharp is the Group Executive at

Virgin Australia, the successor to Virgin

Blue. He re ected on the impact that

the Virgin brand has made on Australian

aviation since its formation 18 years ago.

“Virgin Blue was established in 2000 as a

competitor to the incumbents [Qantas and

Ansett] and Virgin Australia continues to

play that role today, even after transitioning

into a full-service carrier. We take our role

of being the challenger in this market very

seriously, as it brings many bene ts

VIRGIN

AUSTRALIA

BREAKING THE MOULD

Chris Frame looks at the genesis of the Virgin airlines brand

in Australia and traces what’s made it so successful since its

formation in 2000 as a low-cost carrier to a full-service airline today.

http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 77

Virgin Australia A330 VH-XFJ taking off from

Perth on March 27, 2018. Key-Tom Allett

77-82_virginDC.mfDC.mf.indd 77 09/04/2018 15:04