IATA Code: DJ

ICAO Code: VOZ

Known As: Virgin Blue Airlines

Full Name: Virgin Blue Airlines PTY Ltd.

Country: Australia

Callsign: Virgin

History:

Virgin Blue was launched on 3 August 2000, with two aircraft initially offering seven return flights a day between Brisbane and Sydney. This has been expanded to cover all major Australian cities and many holiday destinations.

The timing of Virgin Blue's entry into the Australian market was fortunate as it was able to fill the vacuum created by the failure of Ansett in September 2001. Ansett's failure allowed Virgin Blue to grow rapidly to become Australia's second domestic carrier, rather than just a cut-price alternative to the established players.

It also gave them access to terminal space without which growth would have been significantly limited. Delays in negotiating access to the former Ansett terminal at Sydney Airport however forced Virgin Blue to initially use a temporary terminal there.
 
Virgin Group's holding in Virgin Blue has since been reduced, initially via a sale of a half interest to Australian logistics conglomerate Patrick Corporation, and later by a public float.

In early 2005 Patrick launched a hostile takeover for Virgin Blue. Patrick had been unhappy for some time with the company's direction. By the closure of the offer, Patrick held 62% of the company, giving it control. Virgin Group retains a 25% share. In May 2006 Toll Holdings acquired Patrick and became the majority owner of Virgin Blue.

Virgin Blue uses a familiar formula pioneered by airlines such as Southwest Airlines and Ryanair eliminating costs such as included in-flight meals and printed tickets in favour of selling food on-board and using telephone and internet booking systems. It also cut costs in the past by limiting the number of airports serviced and by operating one type of aircraft, the Boeing 737.

This strategy has now changed with the introduction of a second type into the fleet. The airline has ordered 20 Embraer E-jets, in a mix of six ERJ-170s and 14 ERJ-190s, with the intent of taking as many as another 20 aircraft.

These have been ordered specifically so that the airline could re-enter the Sydney - Canberra market that it previously abandoned in 2004, and to fly to other destinations with less traffic.

The first ERJ-170 arrived in Australia in September 2007 and by the end of the year the three on initial order had been delivered. These were placed on limited-frequency services before full-scale operations were launched on 4 February 2008 with services from Sydney to Canberra (branded as 'Capital Jet' services), Mackay, Queensland and the New South Wales regional centers of Port Macquarie and Albury.

 A one-cent fare was used to promote the Port Macquarie and Albury services.The flights to Canberra and the regional centers signify an effort to compete more directly with Qantas and its subsidiary QantasLink operation, which flies to all three cities, with independent Regional Express Airlines, which flies to Albury, caught in the middle

 In September 2003, Virgin Blue announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Pacific Blue, would offer a similar cheaper service between New Zealand and mainland Australia.

Pacific Blue aims to position itself as a low-cost competitor to Air New Zealand and Qantas on trans-Tasman routes. Air New Zealand also created a low-cost airline Freedom Air (which will cease operations in March 2008) and Qantas deployed Jetstar on selected NZ routes. Both Qantas (through Qantas and also its wholly owned New Zealand subsidiary Jetconnect operating as a Qantas branded franchise) and Air NZ continue to operate these routes in their own right. In August 2007, Virgin Blue announced their intention to begin domestic Pacific Blue services within New Zealand. Flights between Auckland and Wellington, Christchurch and Wellington, and Auckland and Christchurch, began on 12 November 2007.

Qantas responded to Virgin Blue's lower cost base by creating a new low-cost domestic carrier, Jetstar Airways in 2004. In May 2005 Jetstar announced that it would also commence services to Christchurch, New Zealand and in 2006 many other overseas destinations.

Like other brands in the Virgin family, Virgin Blue takes an informal and humorous approach to business. On one flight, Richard Branson held a toilet paper race down the aisle of a Virgin Blue aircraft.

Its inflight food menu is named A La Cart (a parody of the manner that food is served using a cart). However, this attitude has been reviewed, due to the airline's recent focus on corporate customers.
 
Virgin Blue's 50th Boeing 737 'Virgin-ia Blue' is the only aircraft in the fleet actually painted blue at its inception in 2000, Virgin Blue did not have interline or marketing alliances with any other airline.

The first exception to this was after the collapse of its domestic competitor Ansett where it began a codeshare agreement with United Airlines, which allowed United customers to fly from America to any of Virgin Blue's Australian destinations that United did not already serve.

 In 2006, in an effort to be more competitive with rival Qantas, Virgin Blue started exploring these relationships, forming frequent flyer agreements with Emirates Airline, Hawaiian Airlines and Malaysia Airlines.

Virgin Blue also has an Airline Agreement with Regional Express Airlines for travelers to and from smaller regional centers. In November 2007, the airline announced an interline deal with international carrier Garuda Indonesia, offering easy transfer from a domestic Virgin Blue flight to an international Garuda service departing from Perth, Melbourne, Sydney or Darwin

Virgin Blue's name was the result of an open competition; it is a play on the predominantly red livery and the Australian slang tradition of calling a red-headed male 'Blue' or 'Bluey

In early 2006 Virgin Blue announced its intention to operate up to seven flights a week to the United States using either Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) or San Francisco International Airport (SFO), saying that the route was needed to make the airline as profitable as possible. The airline has also expressed interest in flying to Japan.

The airline was granted approval for up to 10 flights a week from Australian regulatory bodies on 25 July 2007. It is still waiting for approval from the United States authorities.

Virgin Blue has ordered six Boeing 777-300ER aircraft from Boeing for use on international routes. It will lease a seventh aircraft from International Lease Finance Corporation.

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Information Source:

Logo: http://www.aerosite.net

History:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page