Virgin Blue - Uluru from AUG10

[Wunala Dreaming]

Source

Virgin Blue today announced that from August of this year, it will begin services to Uluru (Ayers Rock) from Sydney, becoming the only other operator besides Qantas to operate services to the remote airport.

Operated by Voyager Resorts & Hotels, the Northern Territory airport will receive the new Virgin Blue Embraer E-190 daily services from the 2nd of August this year.

Continues..

 

[docjames]

SOunds good - wonder how big an impact on airfares there'll be?

 

[anat0l]

I love it how DJ have taken the angle that "QF have been charging unreasonable fares for a long time. Now we are here to offer what it really should cost."

Of course with new competition you need a new reason for people to fly on something other than the original single option (apart from service and comfort).

At around $35 cheaper than QF (taking into account credit card surcharges of the two carriers), there is a bit of run for money there, although IIRC QF use 737s to AYQ vs. DJ which will use E-jets. How that pans out in terms of capacity will be interesting. (Will be interesting to know if QF have been filling those 737s to AYQ successfully.)

 

[UP4014]

Qantas won't pull out, but they will reduce fares to make it difficult for Virgin.

Look at what happens/ed with Kalgoorlie Perth flights.

Qantas has the route, Virgin comes in, Qantas discounts until Virgin says it's pulling out.

 

[anat0l]

Qantas won't pull out, but they will reduce fares to make it difficult for Virgin.

Look at what happens/ed with Kalgoorlie Perth flights.

Qantas has the route, Virgin comes in, Qantas discounts until Virgin says it's pulling out.

What about Skywest?

In any case, who said anything about QF pulling out? That'd be a foolish move. (So would the "half-pull-out" option, which I will not say here due to fear of blasphemy).

 

[UP4014]

What about Skywest?

In any case, who said anything about QF pulling out? That'd be a foolish move. (So would the "half-pull-out" option, which I will not say here due to fear of blasphemy).

Sky who?:mrgreen:

 

[anat0l]

Sky who?:mrgreen:

Oh OK..are they that bad?

(I can't comment - we were put onto QF the last time I went to KGI)

 

[DJ737]

Hi there, here is the official media release.

Virgin Blue has announced plans to launch flights to one of Australia’s most iconic and revered tourist destinations.

From Monday 2 August, the airline will begin direct flights from Sydney to Ayers Rock (Uluru), providing some much needed competition on the route.

Both Australian and international leisure travellers will have the opportunity to fly with Virgin Blue to visit the landmark that is undeniably Australian and recognised both in this country and globally.

Virgin Blue will commence with a daily flight, operating an EMBRAER E-190 aircraft to carry 104 Guests to and from this iconic attraction.

Chief Executive, Brett Godfrey, said, “Virgin Blue turns ten in August and what better way to celebrate than with the launch of new services to the heart of Australia.”

“The timing is right for us to launch a new route as we take delivery of a new E-Jet later this year and we looked at a number of options before deciding Ayers Rock (Uluru) was the ideal destination to commit our new resources to. The decision reflects our view regarding the importance of Ayers Rock (Uluru) to the tourism industry and indeed to visitors from our own backyard, as well as from all over the world, who flock to the rock each year to marvel at the natural landmark.”

Virgin Blue will launch a special “Rock Across to Ayers Rock” celebratory fare of $149* one way on the internet which is on sale from now until midnight 21 March 2010 for travel between 3 August 2010 – 23 September and 12 October - 16 December 2010. Everyday fares will start from $199* one way on the internet.

Brett Godfrey added, “We expect to find the only airline currently operating on the route will see fit to suddenly offer more reasonable fares. As the airline that introduced low fares to Australia ten years ago, we are excited to be expanding our route network to include Ayers Rock.”

Connecting flights will also be available from a number of other Australian destinations including Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Canberra, Melbourne and Perth.

Virgin Blue has worked closely with the Ayers Rock airport authority to ensure the airport infrastructure will be ready in August for Virgin Blue flights to commence. The airport will upgrade existing check-in counters as well as build additional baggage belt facilities.

Premium Economy will also be available on the new route.

 

[docjames]

Connecting flights will also be available from a number of other Australian destinations including Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Canberra, Melbourne and Perth.
.

Uh, connecting flight from PER/ADL not looking very attractive - fly all the way to SYD then all the way back to AYQ??? Ugh.

 

[DJ737]

Hi there

Start date is 3rd Aug not the 2nd, rare slip up from the media section.

Uh, connecting flight from PER/ADL not looking very attractive Uh, connecting flight from PER/ADL not looking very attractive

It's in the system $299 from PER, $249 from ADL.

Cheers
DJ737

 

[docjames]

Hi there

Start date is 3rd Aug not the 2nd, rare slip up from the media section.



It's in the system $299 from PER, $249 from ADL.

Cheers
DJ737

I meant flying PER-SYD then all the way back. Long way to get there!

Not arguing with the pricing (that looks good!), in fact you wonder if at times it would be cheaper to buy PER-AYQ then not re-board in SYD (not that i'd condone it!!)

 

[Saab34]

QF seems to be the same price as DJ on the Melbourne connection, $199.

 

[oz_mark]

QF seems to be the same price as DJ on the Melbourne connection, $199.

The $199 is for the current sale, for departures in May. August looks to be pricing at $219+ at the moment.

 

[kamchatsky]

Looks like not a bad place to burn my Velocity points, it is definitely somewhere I want to go some day. Of course, now I have to worry with these additional flights, the hotels will get even more expensive than it is now ....

 

[Mal]

Now they only have to reduce the sky high hotel and tourist prices there.

Oh hang on: "Voyager Resorts & Hotels" will only increase hotel prices now that they're more accessible.

Does give tourists more options from Syd, and helps with the United codeshare/tie up for Virgin.

Hopefully Qantas won't crush them like they have other carriers attempting to join monopoly routes.

 

[kamchatsky]

Now they only have to reduce the sky high hotel and tourist prices there.

Oh hang on: "Voyager Resorts & Hotels" will only increase hotel prices now that they're more accessible.

Does give tourists more options from Syd, and helps with the United codeshare/tie up for Virgin.

Hopefully Qantas won't crush them like they have other carriers attempting to join monopoly routes.

Hope is a big word here .... Qantas will do whatever it can to crush Virgin :mrgreen:. Just business point of view here. You never know, they may ended up buying Voyager outright so that only Qantas guests can stay there ..... Oops, I shouldn't say that, too late

 

[Standby]

good luck to them.I suspect they are hoping VA inbound will fill the planes.
Also hope they make a better fist of it than they did in ASP.Time and how long subsidies last will tell .

 

[FL360]

There is no way that QF will pull out of Uluru, because quite a lot of their pax are tourists from overseas, PER=>AYQ=>SYD or the other way around is one of the popular route for tourists for the "real around australia" package...

in other words, for overseas tourists, if their itinerary includes Uluru chances are 90% they will be flying QF/code share all the way...

 

[Mal]

in other words, for overseas tourists, if their itinerary includes Uluru chances are 90% they will be flying QF/code share all the way...

But if they're flying LHR-HKG-SYD (with Virgin Atlantic), or LAX-SYD (with V Australia) or LAX/SFO-SYD (With United), or even perhaps Delta, then it will be likely they will now fly with Virgin Blue to Uluru.

I think it's a smart move from Virgin Blue, and one that is long overdue. However, the real question is whether the route can be sustained.

 

[brissyflyer]

But if they're flying LHR-HKG-SYD (with Virgin Atlantic), or LAX-SYD (with V Australia) or LAX/SFO-SYD (With United), or even perhaps Delta, then it will be likely they will now fly with Virgin Blue to Uluru.

I think it's a smart move from Virgin Blue, and one that is long overdue. However, the real question is whether the route can be sustained.

I thought the UA code was/will be scrapped due to the Delta codeshare.