I wouldn’t be surprised if VA/QR propose a damp lease to tick the “Australian employment” angle with at least the cabin crew being VA. The tech crew will probably be expats anywayThis won’t go down well over the fence, I don’t think there is much they can do to stop it, all that I can think of, it’s the wet lease being all QR, it’s just a Virgin flight number isn’t it? That’s the bit they might push against.
They've already been in lengthy discussions with FIRB so I'm sure it's unofficially already ticked off.This won’t go down well over the fence, I don’t think there is much they can do to stop it, all that I can think of, it’s the wet lease being all QR, it’s just a Virgin flight number isn’t it? That’s the bit they might push against.
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Cue file footage of VS A340 for the Virgin JumboLook like they will be A380s!
They've already been in lengthy discussions with FIRB so I'm sure it's unofficially already ticked off.
Maybe they shouldn’t have given back the HND slot that early. Though it’s hard to imagine VA management weren’t aware of this and there’s probably reason to not hold on to it for a few more months.Looks like the three 777 may be back if approved. Makes sense why they didnt refit them now.
ACCC won't block this, particularly given the recent events and needed additional competition. They'll take a few months to review and provide their data and reasoning, of course.The FIRB has nothing to do with international capacity, and “ticking off” is two separate applications, the acquisition, and the utilisation of capacity to DOH. FIRB does the former, IASC the latter. ACCC then needs to approve a change to the relationship with QR, as currently they are not permitted to operate overlapping routes.
So really that’s three applications. FIRB should be easy. The IASC will be the tricky one.
If IASC proves somewhat challenging, I guess the worst case scenario is Virgin to operate the DOH flights itself, standing up a long haul fleet would probably only delay it another year.
No idea if the long term plan here is for Virgin to even operate the flights, ever. It could be a wet lease agreement that is somewhat permanent.
With the amount of time passed, no doubt much work has already occurred behind the scenes.
Maybe they shouldn’t have given back the HND slot that early. Though it’s hard to imagine VA management weren’t aware of this and there’s probably reason to not hold on to it for a few more months.
ACCC won't block this, particularly given the recent events and needed additional competition. They'll take a few months to review and provide their data and reasoning, of course.
Do you mean the ACCC? It’s unlikely QF would contest VA’s allocation for Qatari slots and any uncontested application IASC basically wave it through.The IASC will be the tricky one.
ACCC review will be required for any potential alliance / joint venture where schedules and fares are coordinated. Without that the best VA and QR can do is free sale / fixed block codeshare where the two maintain independent pricing and scheduling, effectively still competing. Given QF/EK’s joint venture was renewed in 2022 without much fuss and QR’s existing JV with IAG airlines it’s hard to see how this would be difficult as well.ACCC then needs to approve a change to the relationship with QR, as currently they are not permitted to operate overlapping routes.
See you on their inaugural long haul flightFinally a solid leak...sunrise.
Waiting for more details, but bloody great news....virgin -widebodies those 2 words together were dead n buried to never be linked again.
Will wait for further details.
Happy VA fanboi here.
Wasn’t a leak, there is a media release::Finally a solid leak...sunrise.
Waiting for more details, but bloody great news....virgin -widebodies those 2 words together were dead n buried to never be linked again.
Will wait for further details.
Happy VA fanboi here.
Do you mean the ACCC? It’s unlikely QF would contest VA’s allocation for Qatari slots and any uncontested application IASC basically wave it through.
ACCC review will be required for any potential alliance / joint venture where schedules and fares are coordinated. Without that the best VA and QR can do is free sale / fixed block codeshare where the two maintain independent pricing and scheduling, effectively still competing. Given QF/EK’s joint venture was renewed in 2022 without much fuss and QR’s existing JV with IAG airlines it’s hard to see how this would be difficult as well.