Two years later, the
airline extended its reach
overseas, with the launch
of Pacific Blue Airlines.
Based at Christchurch
in New Zealand, the
brand utilised Virgin’s
Boeing 737s and allowed
the company to take
advantage of the lower
cost of operating from
New Zealand for its trans-
Tasman flying.
The following year, Polynesian Blue was
established. A joint venture between the
Samoan Government and Virgin Blue, it flew
one 737 to four destinations and became
Samoa’s flag carrier.
From September 2007, Virgin Blue
introduced 20 Embraer aircraft to its fleet.
The order comprised both E170s and E190s,
and was valued at AU$850m. This made it
the single largest trade transaction between
Australia and Brazil at the time.
In 2009, Virgin Blue greatly expanded its
international presence when it inaugurated
long-haul flights through a
wholly owned subsidiary
named V Australia. A fleet
of five Boeing 777-300ERs
were allocated to the
new brand, which began
services to the US and
Abu Dhabi from Australia’s
east coast.
This growth was
bolstered by a series of
strategic alliances with
major international carriers
such as Singapore Airlines,
Delta Air Lines and Air
New Zealand.
The novel, multi-brand
approach led to the airline
dubbing itself a ‘new world
carrier’. Its breakaway from
the traditional low-cost
model led to the addition
of features more closely
associated with full service
airlines. This included extra
legroom seats (referred
to as ‘The Blue Zone’),
the creation of premium
lounges and seat back
video screens that offered
satellite television for a fee.
In May 2010, founding
CEO Brett Godfrey left
Virgin Blue, having
created a strong and
viable business that had
transformed air travel in
Australia.A NEW
APPROACH
There was one area in
which Virgin Blue fell short
of its larger rival – businesstravel. Despite its ‘new world’ approach,
there wasn’t a business class cabin on
board its narrow body fleet. Furthermore,
the mixed bag of brands, consisting of Virgin
Blue, Pacific Blue, Polynesian Blue and V
Australia, meant marketing and selling the
company’s offering was more fragmented
than many competing airlines.
Former Qantas Executive General
Manager John Borghetti was selected toreplace Godfrey and lead
Virgin Blue into its second
decade. Borghetti re-
evaluated the structure of
Virgin Blue and introduced
a new vision for the
airline.
By 2011, it had
rebranded as Virgin
Australia, a name that
gradually replaced
both Pacific Blue and V
Australia. As such, Virgin
Australia was able to create a recognisable
and concise presence across its global
network. Polynesian Blue was subsequently
rebranded as Virgin Samoa in December
that year.
Coinciding with its name change, the
main airline established a viable domestic
business class offering. To facilitate this,
it acquired Airbus A330-200s for use on
key routes between Australia’s east coast
and the booming city of Perth in Western
Australia.
The airline was careful to preserve the
essence of the Virgin
Blue culture, and its take
on a quintessentially
Aussie style of customer
engagement. This culture
helped the relaunched
airline’s reputation to soar,
with it becoming a popular
choice for business
travellers.EXPANDING
SERVICES
In 2012, Virgin Australia
set its sights on a new
wave of expansion,
leading it to acquire more
A330-200s. Part of this
growth was a commitment
to develop business class
services and, to that
end, a new product was
introduced offering a 2-2-2
layout of angled beds.
The new service was
widely touted as the finest
of its kind in Australia’s
domestic market, leading
to Qantas responding by
placing an international-
grade 747-400 on
domestic duties.
In April 2013, Virgin
Australia acquired
Western Australian
regional carrier Skywest
Airlines, rebranding
it as Virgin Australia
Regional Airlines. The
two organisations had
a long-established
partnership, with Skywest
operating Virgin’s new
fleet of ATR turboprops,http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 79A spectacular view of a Virgin Australia
Boeing 777 landing at Los Angeles. Virgin
Australia-photo by Tim BowreyBoeing 737-800 VH-YFV between
flights at Canberra in 2016.
Key-Tom Allett77-82_virginDC.mfDC.mf.indd 79 09/04/2018 15:03