Virgin sets its compass to Asia

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No, not SYD-AUH as already discussed, and having two aircraft feeding an onward service would allow for issues etc.
 
I wonder why the Asia focus... I quote from the article:

Mr Borghetti declined to reveal the routes Virgin would target but it is believed Asian destinations are high on the agenda.

How about BNE / MEL --> HNL --> SFO?

The new A330 would be streets ahead of the competition on the SYD-HNL route, and would offer a way of getting to SFO that avoids both LAX and United.

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greenfish said:
I wonder why the Asia focus... I quote from the article:

How about BNE / MEL --> HNL --> SFO?

The new A330 would be streets ahead of the competition on the SYD-HNL route, and would offer a way of getting to SFO that avoids both LAX and United.

​
Click to expand...

A leisure/holiday route

Waste of time
 
JB has previously said his focus is Asia, its easy to see why if you look at the top 15 monthly routes for flights to/from Australia, HNL at 18 and DFO at 28 (with SFO beating DFW).

[TABLE="width: 394"]
[TR]
[TD]Singapore[/TD]
[TD]Australia[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD] 338 912[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Auckland[/TD]
[TD]Australia[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD] 288 845[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Hong Kong[/TD]
[TD]Australia[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD] 182 222[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Kuala Lumpur[/TD]
[TD]Australia[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD] 139 236[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Denpasar[/TD]
[TD]Australia[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD] 121 246[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Los Angeles[/TD]
[TD]Australia[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD] 117 465[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Dubai[/TD]
[TD]Australia[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD] 113 145[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Bangkok[/TD]
[TD]Australia[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD] 101 559[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Christchurch[/TD]
[TD]Australia[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD] 82 526[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Tokyo[/TD]
[TD]Australia[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD] 57 491[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Wellington[/TD]
[TD]Australia[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD] 54 452[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Guangzhou[/TD]
[TD]Australia[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD] 47 721[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Shanghai[/TD]
[TD]Australia[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD] 45 696[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Seoul[/TD]
[TD]Australia[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD] 43 889[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Abu Dhabi[/TD]
[TD]Australia[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD] 43 757[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
 
lovestotravel said:
A leisure/holiday route

Waste of time
Click to expand...

Probably true and wishful thinking on my part. Still, a service to SFO could tie in well with VX.

Despite the comments of the Virgin Atlantic commentator, I find it hard to believe that it is cost effective to run the A340-600 to Oz, with all of the associated costs of running Sydney operations. It'd be in both VS and VA's interests to divvy the route up, with VA going up to HKG, which is probably quite a good route for an A330 - or at least offer a tie in with VS's services to PVG, if VS wants to keep SYD-HKG...
 
While sharing the VS/VA route would be good, you need a consistent product, which was stated by VS somewhere I believe or maybe VA.

You either do it properly or don't do it at all

Asia has lots of merit, as does SFO, but SFO really needs a 77W and that's a BIG investment....

787s perhaps..

Would love an order of 787's for domestic and international expansion
 
lovestotravel said:
While sharing the VS/VA route would be good, you need a consistent product, which was stated by VS somewhere I believe or maybe VA.
Click to expand...

Fully agree. Sending a VA A330 up to HKG from SYD to meet the VS A340 means that Upper Class pax are downgraded to a slopey sleeper, and Y+ pax get bumped down to Y. Not sure VS will go for that. However you'd probably get away with a complementary service, ie BNE/MEL-HKG on a VA A330 to connect with the VS service.

Transferring from a VS A340 to VA 777 might be acceptable, VA J isn't as swish as upper class but at least the raw hard product (ie flat bed) is very approximately comparable, and there's a Y+ cabin. However one thing that's clear is that there aren't going to be any more 777s in the short term and it's unlikely their current routes will change.
 
Fruitcake said:
However one thing that's clear is that there aren't going to be any more 777s in the short term and it's unlikely their current routes will change.
Click to expand...

JB has not ruled that out, so why have you?
 
Fruitcake said:
However one thing that's clear is that there aren't going to be any more 777s in the short term and it's unlikely their current routes will change.
Click to expand...

Agree, but one person on here is adamant that VA has recently ordered 3 x 777's.....

The short term is more A330's and even then only a fleet of 5 or 6 ...
 
markis10 said:
JB has not ruled that out, so why have you?
Click to expand...

Because it makes no sense and of course he is not going to rule anything out.

Why would he want to tell the world that VA is not interested in anything.

Being vague is standard practice for a good CEO and by not ruling anything out is the best way to do that.
 
lovestotravel said:
Agree, but one person on here is adamant that VA has recently ordered 3 x 777's.....

The short term is more A330's and even then only a fleet of 5 or 6 ...
Click to expand...

I am not sure anyone is adamant that VA have the 3 undisclosed 777 orders from last month, but I know some are adamant India is not in Asia, which is easier to verify :)

lovestotravel said:
Because it makes no sense and of course he is not going to rule anything out.

Why would he want to tell the world that VA is not interested in anything.

Being vague is standard practice for a good CEO and by not ruling anything out is the best way to do that.
Click to expand...

Saying "dont forget we have 777 options" is a bit different to not wanting to rule things out, hardly letting sleeping dogs lie.
 
markis10 said:
JB has not ruled that out, so why have you?
Click to expand...

JB was quoted last year as saying they wouldn't think about taking up the two remaining options until at least 2013.
Storm and then calm as Virgin Australia posts loss | CAPA

Of course many aspects of that article have been superseded as time has gone on, so you can certainly argue that JB's views on 777s could have evolved too. But even if they convert their options today, how long until the aircraft are delivered?

The 777s are stretched so thin at the moment that the only way to utilise them better is tag-on flights (either into Europe as that article speculated, or somewhere in North America, both of which seem unlikely) or to drop existing routes.
 
Fruitcake said:
JB was quoted last year as saying they wouldn't think about taking up the two remaining options until at least 2013.
Storm and then calm as Virgin Australia posts loss | CAPA

Of course many aspects of that article have been superseded as time has gone on, so you can certainly argue that JB's views on 777s could have evolved too. But even if they convert their options today, how long until the aircraft are delivered?

The 777s are stretched so thin at the moment that the only way to utilise them better is tag-on flights (either into Europe as that article speculated, or somewhere in North America, both of which seem unlikely) or to drop existing routes.
Click to expand...

I would say adding 777s next year is short term in the context of what is happening with their international review, regardless we will know soon as its due to be finalised in the next 7 weeks, and we can go back to discussing Apple versus IBM or where the next QF route cut will occur :mrgreen:.
 
I wonder why everyone is speculating for NRT, given how far down the list of routes it actually sits. Not to mention the Japanese economy has been in the toilet for the past decade. I can't remember the last time I saw Japanese tourists around. And then there's that nuclear reactor over there teetering on the brink of collapse and threatening to wipe the nation out. Doesn't seem like a prime target to me. But maybe I'm just allergic to radioactivity.
 
Looking at that list though, some of those "top" destinations must surely have a fair chunk of onward travellers?
 
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