Dubai : UAE flag carrier Etihad Airways and Australia’s Virgin Blue Holdings yesterday signed an agreement establishing a commercial partnership that will enable Virgin Blue’s international arm, V Australia, to launch direct services to Abu Dhabi in 2011 and the two airlines offer a joint network of more than 100 destinations from October 1, 2010.
Together, Etihad and V Australia will move towards a total of 27 weekly services between Abu Dhabi and Australia — including double-daily services between Abu Dhabi and Sydney, daily Melbourne-Abu Dhabi flights and six frequencies per week between Abu Dhabi and Brisbane.
Welcoming the move, analysts said, this will help Etihad gain access to a larger market and help it to achieve its targetted break-even and become profitable next year.
“For Etihad, customers will get better connectivity throughout the Australia region,” Saj Ahmad, aviation analyst with the UK-based FBE Aerospace, told Gulf News.
“This is a great move for V Australia to not only access the GCC region, but it will directly compete with Qantas for the same traffic. Its also possible this move spurs Qantas to launch its own direct flights.
“Overall, this is a great move for customers and airlines alike.”
Transit traffic
The move will help Etihad divert Europe-Australia traffic through Abu Dhabi from other competing hubs such as Singapore and Doha, and boost transit traffic through Abu Dhabi International Airport, which is undergoing a massive re-development plan worth Dh25 billion.
V Australia will operate three Sydney to Abu Dhabi services per week from February 2011 and three Brisbane to Abu Dhabi services per week by February 2012, using its new fleet of three-class Boeing 777-300ER and becoming the first Australian carrier to operate to the Middle East since 1991.
Etihad Airways’ Chief Executive Officer, James Hogan, said the partnership would grow to become one of the Gulf carrier’s most significant.
“With our combined route network, we will provide all-important access from Australia to both the USA and Europe, which improves our suitability for both business and leisure travel and puts us right in the race for major corporate travel accounts,” he said.
From October, Virgin Blue Group customers can access Etihad’s network of 65 destinations across North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and India. All Virgin Blue services will be available to Etihad customers, opening up 44 destinations in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, and to Asia and Los Angeles.
