Virgin Blue and Air New Zealand have been given conditional authorisation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to create an alliance on flights between Australia and New Zealand.
Virgin Blue plunged airports across Australia into chaos yesterday with the failure of its check in systems, however the airline expects flights to return to normal by the end of the day despite continued disruptions today.
Virgin Blue Holdings Limited, who run both Virgin Blue and V Australia and Etihad Airways PJSC today signed an agreement to enable V Australia to fly into Abu Dhabi from 2011.
Virgin Blue will abandon the New Zealand domestic market from October 18, after it’s New Zealand based Pacific Blue operation accrued years of losses.
Low cost carrier Jetstar is taking the fight to rivals Virgin Blue and Air New Zealand by increasing the number flights between Queenstown and both Melbourne and the Gold Coast.
Virgin Blue Chief Executive John Borghetti has signaled his intention to bring V Australia under Virgin Blue’s management and operations structure in a memo to staff yesterday.