OOL Lounge

[markis10]

DJ have an application pending for Indonesia, OOL-DPS perhaps, although the application is for 737 traffic??

 

[777]

Personally, my money's on just the lounge. Ministers will turn up at the opening of a paper bag if it's in their portfolio.

I can't see long haul international being part of the picture - they don't have the fleet for it for a start. Perhaps there's a new destination in NZ or domestically but i'd be surprised if it's more than that.

<prepares to be proved wrong>

 

[777]

DJ have an application pending for Indonesia, OOL-DPS perhaps, although the application is for 737 traffic??

That's possible with a 737 - there is a lot more capacity coming online between Australia and Indonesia and they do have the fleet for it.

 

[LiamR]

That's possible with a 737 - there is a lot more capacity coming online between Australia and Indonesia and they do have the fleet for it.

I can definatly see OOL-DPS happening soon. The ammount of passengers [read bogans] that travel to Bali out of OOL is huge. A lot of Gold Coast school leavers are choosing to go to Bali over staying on the Gold Coast.

 

[LiamR]

Saying that. Why would the tourism minister go? Wouldn't that be outbound tourism, something they don't want?

The govt. would be more keen on having inbound tourism. So we need to think, who would travel to Australia? Maybe Japan, China? Those are the type of people that frequently travel to the Gold Coast.

Without getting carried away, this could be the launch of Virgin putting A330 services into Asia. :shock:

 

[cityloop]

Saying that. Why would the tourism minister go? Wouldn't that be outbound tourism, something they don't want?

The govt. would be more keen on having inbound tourism. So we need to think, who would travel to Australia? Maybe Japan, China? Those are the type of people that frequently travel to the Gold Coast.

Without getting carried away, this could be the launch of Virgin putting A330 services into Asia. :shock:

That's what I was thinking too. It would have to be inbound beneficial. The biggest market being Japan or China perhaps even Abu Dhabi?

 

[LiamR]

That's what I was thinking too. It would have to be inbound beneficial. The biggest market being Japan or China perhaps even Abu Dhabi?

It would be VA sending their 777's to AUH or SIN? Maybe. But I doubt it. They don't even fly to AUH on their own metal from MEL or BNE yet.

Do we think it'll be a 777 or A330 related announcement?

 

[notzac]

I agree with 777 - most government ministers would turn up to the opening of a letter if it's in some way relevant to their portfolio. Would love to be impressed, but not really expecting anything too interesting.

 

[LiamR]

Personally, my money's on just the lounge. Ministers will turn up at the opening of a paper bag if it's in their portfolio.

I can't see long haul international being part of the picture - they don't have the fleet for it for a start. Perhaps there's a new destination in NZ or domestically but i'd be surprised if it's more than that.

<prepares to be proved wrong>

I think you could be right 777, they don't have any spare aircraft to add new long haul destinations. Sounds like it will be some desgination that a 737 can reach.

 

[markis10]

Lets not forget they have two brand new A330s coming, and have been known to be looking at LAX via AKL, ex OOL would make an interesting possibility.

 

[notzac]

Lets not forget they have two brand new A330s coming, and have been known to be looking at LAX via AKL, ex OOL would make an interesting possibility.

ex-OOL to LAX? Would there be any premium traffic for a route like that?

 

[777]

I struggle to believe that they will deploy their a330s ex OOL any time soon. There's a reason that jetstar use OOL as their international base and it's mainly because they don't want to compete with Qantas. The whole point of Virgin getting a330s is that they do want to compete with Qantas therefore i would expect to see the A330s in SYD, MEL, BNE, and PER before they go anywhere near OOL.

 

[LiamR]

ex-OOL to LAX? Would there be any premium traffic for a route like that?

I don't think there is. Gold Coast is a holiday destination, I wouldn't call it premium... But there are certainly signs that Gold Coast is trying to mvoe upmarket.

On a good day there is 1 maybe 2 Golds on flights Ex OOL. I am usually the only one onboard. There is never more than 1 PE pax onboard.

I don't think we'll see anything to the US.

The target market for OOL is Asia. So if they are talking about A330s, I think it'll be to countries like China, Japan & maybe HK. That's the sort of traffic we have on the Gold Coast at the moment.

There is a trend occuring, tourists use to fly into Sydney, spend a few days there and then fly up to the Gold Coast. Most are now just wanting to go directly into the Gold Coast for a quick(er) break.

Maybe Virgin are trying to jump onto this? IME It could certainly work.

Just speculation of course. It could be nothing more than a 737 going to PER...

 

[Oneworldplus2]

Great Speculation for OOL today on this thread.

Announcement should be here soon....

 

[777]

Great Speculation for OOL today on this thread.

My money is on a special sub fleet of A380s being deployed on the OOL-BNE route.

 

[LiamR]

Tah Dah:

Virgin Australia offers business class to Gold Coast | Flight Centric News | FC News | Flight Centric

 

[LiamR]

Basicley. Borghetti said...

Business Class is coming soon.
The lounge is coming soon.

And....

That's it from what I have read so far.

 

[Oneworldplus2]

On a good day there is 1 maybe 2 Golds on flights Ex OOL. I am usually the only one onboard. There is never more than 1 PE pax onboard.

Why don't VA drop the PE price if they aren't selling seats? I find this very strange that an airline would rather fly empty than try to entice people to fork out just a little bit more and get some extra $$$


OOL-SYD is $175 for a Flexi (Next week) and PE is $315.


View attachment 3375



Why not drop PE to ~$210? If someone is already flying with VA using a Flexi, would the extra ~$60 be a small enough carrot to entice people to jump up to PE? Airlines are always looking for $$$ and this could be a possible short term fix?

 

[777]

And....

The lounge will be 680sqm and will open in 1st quarter of 2012 - later than originally planned.

I assume this means they know where it will be built. Anyone know more?

 

[toronto]

Tah Dah:

Virgin Australia offers business class to Gold Coast | Flight Centric News | FC News | Flight Centric

Very well done Virgin. We waited for almost 6 years since Qantas left!