12 AUSTRALIAN AVIATION
VIRGIN AUSTRALIA NEWS
Virgin Australia said on June 12 John
Borghetti planned to step down as
chief executive some time in the next
18 months after eight years in the
role. His successor will be just the
third chief executive since the airline
was formed in 2000. Borghetti had
“advised the board he will not renew
his contract post 1 January 2020”,
Virgin Australia said in a statement to
the Australian Securities Exchange.- Virgin Australia and Hainan Airlines
have expanded their partnership to
include the Australian carrier adding
its VA code on Hainan’s flights from
Sydney to Changsha, Haikou and
Xi’an, Melbourne to Changsha and
Xi’an, and from Brisbane and Cairns
to Shenzhen. Meanwhile, Hainan will
add its HU code on Virgin Australia
domestic and trans-Tasman flights.QANTAS GROUP NEWS
Qantas announced on May 23
it would reinstate a codeshare
agreement with Air France for flights
between Australia and France via
Asia that was dropped six years ago
when it forged a global alliance with
Emirates. Under the new agreement,
Qantas will add its QF airline code on
Air France’s daily nonstop flights from
Paris to Hong Kong and Singapore.
Similarly, Air France will place its AF
airline code on Qantas’s flights from
Singapore to Brisbane, Melbourne,
Perth and Sydney, as well as from
Hong Kong to Brisbane, Melbourne
and Sydney. The AF code will also
appear on Qantas-operated flightsfrom Sydney to Adelaide, Canberra,
Cairns, Darwin and Hobart.- Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce
said the airline had scrapped
plans to operate a seasonal Perth-
Johannesburg service after failing
to reach an agreement with Perth
Airport over the use of its Terminal
3/4 precinct to operate the nonstop
flight. Qantas has planned to fly the
route between November and March.
In a case of frenemies coming together
for a common cause, Air New Zealand
and Qantas have inked a codeshare
deal covering domestic destinations
on both sides of the Tasman. Under
the arrangement Air New Zealand
will add its NZ airline code on 85
Qantas-operated domestic services in
Debrief News briefs from across aviation
Malaysia-based Malindo Air
began daily Kuala Lumpur-
Denpasar-Melbourne flights on
June 7.VICTOR PODY.