5 new Virgin Blue routes

[Steve Jones]

Some unusual ones here. Big win for Townsville and Canberra:

MEDIA RELEASE

VIRGIN BLUE UNDERTAKES PHASE TWO OF AIRCRAFT REDEPLOYMENT STRATEGY

FIVE BRAND NEW ROUTES TO BE INTRODUCED TO NETWORK

CANBERRA – HOBART
CANBERRA – TOWNSVILLE
TOWNSVILLE – GOLD COAST
TOWNSVILLE – CAIRNS
TOWNSVILLE - ROCKHAMPTON

Wednesday 11 February 2009: Virgin Blue Airlines has announced it will launch five brand new services between a number of ports on its network including daily return flights between Canberra – Hobart, Canberra – Townsville, Townsville-Gold Coast, Townsville –Rockhampton as well as Townsville - Cairns. The new services will all commence from Monday 6 April.

The new flights are a result of the company’s strategic review in 2008 which highlighted an opportunity for the airline to redeploy aircraft from under–performing markets onto other routes.

Virgin Blue Chief Executive, Brett Godfrey, said, “Like all businesses, in these challenging times we need to keep our finger on the pulse and position our resources where they are most needed.

“The redeployment of some of our Embraer fleet to previously un-serviced routes is great news for these ports, in particular Townsville which has jagged four out of the five new services, because it means more convenient, regular and affordable direct air services which will provide plenty of choice for travellers.”

It is the first time since Virgin Blue launched in 2000 that the airline will offer flights between regional centres (Townsville – Cairns Townsville – Rockhampton and Townsville – Gold Coast). Fittingly, Townsville was also the very first regional centre the airline launched services to in March 2001 and will be the first port to be directly connected by Virgin Blue to not one, but three, other regional centres.

Special online SALE FARES for each of the routes go on sale from today until 17 February 2009, for travel from first day of nonstop service until 25 June:

Canberra – Hobart $99* one-way on the internet
Canberra – Townsville $149* one-way on the internet
Townsville-Gold Coast $99* one-way on the internet
Townsville-Cairns $69* one-way on the internet
Townsville-Rockhampton $69* one-way on the internet

Virgin Blue will operate its executive-style EMBRAER E-Jets on all the new routes offering two by two seating configuration.

I wonder what routes the capacity is being redeployed from?

[Greg F]

No way in hell is the Hobart > Canberra going to work!
They often have very low loads on Hobart > Adelaide......

Hobart is a funny place for destinations, but Melbourne and Sydney only seem the places that really work...

[Michael Morrison]

Are these new E Jets? Or are they coming from other routes?

[Marty H]

No way in hell is the Hobart > Canberra going to work!
They often have very low loads on Hobart > Adelaide......

Hobart is a funny place for destinations, but Melbourne and Sydney only seem the places that really work...


Do you think they would start operating a route that they know wont work???

Your also wrong on your HBA to ADL loads also most flights in either direction have less than 10 seats availble on them.


Keep your 'directive' comments in your bag Marty - Mod

[Greg F]

Yeah Adelaide maybe for one carrier for one flight a day!
Wait and see if tiger ever do ADL-HBA then it will be interesting

[Justin L]

Yeah Adelaide maybe for one carrier for one flight a day!
Wait and see if tiger ever do ADL-HBA then it will be interesting

Tiger have already announced ADL-HBA with four weekly flights from March 1.

[Greg F]

We'll just wait and see for that to happen, who knows at the moment with all thats happening with the economy

[Greg F]

Do you think they would start operating a route that they know wont work???

Your also wrong on your HBA to ADL loads also most flights in either direction have less than 10 seats availble on them, perhaps you should get a clue before commenting next time.


The route is SEASONAL!

[Anthony T]

The route is SEASONAL!

HBA-ADL ops 7/365 and is not seasonal.

[Marty H]

The route is SEASONAL!

Doesnt matter if its seasonal or not, you said the loads arent good. I can tell you at present in either direction there is under 10 seats on most flights, it is seasonal for a reason.

[Greg F]

Doesnt matter if its seasonal or not you said the loads arent good I can tell you at present in either direction there is under 10 seats on most flights, it is seasonal for a reason. It's called VB having more of an idea than you do!!!

I know when JQ were doing the route it was very quiet over the low season and so was DJ
Now with only one carrier it may and apparently has a lot better loads.

[Lukas M]

Greg is spot on.

Since when does high loads mean its a sustainable route?? Adelaide-Hobart is a frequent visitor to "Happy Hour", Tiger are coming to this route with fares 70% cheaper than Virgin, and Godfrey has stated many times that this route does not make money for Virgin

Barely a week after Virgin Blue boss Brett Godfrey admitted flying from Tasmania to Adelaide was not making money, Tiger Airways decided to launch flights between the two backwater states.

Cant see VB lasting too much longer here. Tiger will take the crown here, and in return, they will lose money.

[Greg F]

Not many routes do from Hobart

AN never made much if any $$ out of Hobart.
And its previously been labeled a loss making port

Don't know about current situation

P.S Lukas thanks.

[Greg F]

Ok my father works for JQ @ Hobart, and there was (in the JQ ADL days) loads of like 12 PAX! mind you that was the very early days....

I cant understand why nobody can make 'real' money from Hobart????

I know JQ loads from HBA have been very good for ages now, yet they still insist on cutting costs....

But that's another story, what they are planning for JQ HBA!:mad:

[Kim F]

My feeling from a Canberran perspective (am I allowed to have a feeling - I have no stats to back it up ?) is that Canberra - Hobart would have greater demand than Canberra - Townsville. The only connection with Townsville is the strong ADF presence.

[Greg F]

My feeling from a Canberran perspective (am I allowed to have a feeling - I have no stats to back it up ?) is that Canberra - Hobart would have greater demand than Canberra - Townsville. The only connection with Townsville is the strong ADF presence.

Its an interesting Decision a lot of the routes
And I will give it to DJ for giving it a go, its the age old 'you'll never know unless you try it' scenario...
Don't know what specific market HBA-ADL will tap into? Politicians? Tourist? obviously there will be a market for it but, how strong it will be and how it will go financially is anyone guess i suppose..

In my personal opinion it wont work, but lets wait and see ;)

[Marty H]

Some flights currently have only 2 seats on them between ADL-HBA and vice versa. That's all I'm saying. Then you dont know what freight is being moved between the two ports either, which if other flights out of HBA are any indication, they would be quite high. But it could be the difference between making money and not making money.

[Kain C]

Whilst it's great that DJ are launching HBA-CBR, I hope that they at least stick with it for at least a year. Prior to this announcement, one difference between DJ and JQ at HBA is that when DJ have added new services/destinations to HBA, they have started them sometime between August and November, which gives the new services some time to "mature" and be full by the peak summer season. Compare this with JQ who have tended to add new destinations/services starting sometime between February and May, which gave them just enough time for the numbers to drop off into the trough of the winter season, and then the services get canned before they can make serious money in the peak summer season.

I'm curious as to what the DJ HBA schedules will look like from April. Currently, there is a new schedule in the booking engine that has the last HBA-MEL flight departing at 1620, and the last HBA-SYD flight departing at 1600. Surely there will be later flights than this to both of these destinations! Maybe they are moving to more E-Jets, so HBA-SYD will get 3 E-Jets daily as opposed to 2 737s???

Interesting that the base fare for HBA-CBR will be $175, the same as it is now if you fly HBA-CBR connecting in ADL, MEL or SYD. This is much higher than say the $99 base fare for HBA-SYD, which is a longer route, and has the higher costs of operating into SYD as opposed to CBR. I guess they won't be expecting much corporate business, as it is a middle of the day service. I think an evening departure out of CBR and a first thing return out of HBA would make more money, but that would mean basing another aircraft in HBA, and I guess the aircraft can't be everywhere at once!

As for HBA-ADL, I think the route was a 737 when Godfrey made the comments mentioned, where as it is now a 737/E190 alternate days of the week I think. This can always be reduced to E190/E170 over the quiter winter months in response with demand [An E170 only has half as may seats as a 73G so 50% load on a 73G will make money on an E170). Since the E190 started, the HBA-ADL service departs HBA at 1615 (as opposed to 1115 before), which would receive some business patronage, especially for example from Hydro Tasmania (that has a major base in South Australia).

Finally, with regards to all the regional routes out of TSV, I would have guessed that TSV-DRW and TSV-ISA would be ahead of the four TSV routes that were announced today, but I'm sure DJ have done their homework! I will definitely be supporting DJ on the new HBA-CBR service. :D

[Paul C.]

No way in hell is the Hobart > Canberra going to work!
They often have very low loads on Hobart > Adelaide......

Hobart is a funny place for destinations, but Melbourne and Sydney only seem the places that really work...

I've always had near full or full flights from Hobart to Adelaide and back, one of those flights was on a 738 and there were no empty seats. My first flight with this airline from Hobart to Adelaide was actually on the blue aircraft VH-VBY.

[Arthur T]

5 New Routes for DJ
CANBERRA – HOBART
CANBERRA – TOWNSVILLE
TOWNSVILLE – GOLD COAST
TOWNSVILLE – CAIRNS
TOWNSVILLE - ROCKHAMPTON

Think routes from Townsville to rest of Queensland would work, things like TSV - CNS is pretty much dominated by QF now, and is operating like 4x Daily.

Instead of Canberra's new services, it would be interesting to see DJ is expanding TSV rather than CNS. CNS is kinda an international port with lots of commutors from around the world transit in CNS to rest of Tropical Queensland.

Wouldn't be better to expand CNS rather than TSV?

I can still see QF's CNS - HTI is still high as $210 direct one way.
I strongly recommend DJ to expand it's BNE - HTI service to CNS, making BNE - HTI & PPP - CNS and sure there might be profitable.

Same to Rockhampton. Hope we can see Cairns - Rockhampton & Cairns - Canberra soon as well.

Good work on DJ, keep going. No Comments of its new CBR service to Hobart, but again, Lord Howe Island needs you.Please use one of your E170s to operate Sydney - Lord Howe Island, thanks.

[Michael Morrison]

Good work on DJ, keep going. No Comments of its new CBR service to Hobart, but again, Lord Howe Island needs you.Please use one of your E170s to operate Sydney - Lord Howe Island, thanks.

I don't think Lord Howe has any plans to extend their runway so doubt you will see an E Jet there - not unless they get floaties for the wheels :eek:

[Justin L]

Understanably, the Townsville press is happy. Have a look at the article in the link below and the half page route map on the front page. A welcome respite from flood news in the region I'm sure.

http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/article/2009/02/12/38275_hpnews.html

As a destination, I personally prefer TSV over CNS. I hope the new routes serve TSV well. With cheaper fares, it may also encourage regional QLD people to travel to TSV for NRL Cowboys games and A-League Fury games. And also for Gold Coast vs North Queensland derbies in both cities for both codes.

[Marty H]

Isnt there also the Townsville Crocs NBL team??? I know DJ have the NBL/WNBL contracts.

[Justin L]

Yes, there is a Townsville Crocs team in the NBL. I didn't mention it as comparitvely less people would travel for an away NBL game. The football codes are more "tribal" in that respect I suppose. But for the movement of NBL players and officials (and some fans) for the Cairns and Gold Coast games also it would help for sure.

[D Chan]

Think routes from Townsville to rest of Queensland would work, things like TSV - CNS is pretty much dominated by QF now, and is operating like 4x Daily

Is the runway long enough?

[Nigel C]

TSV main rwy is 2438, CNS is 3196.

[Daniel M]

No Comments of its new CBR service to Hobart, but again, Lord Howe Island needs you.Please use one of your E170s to operate Sydney - Lord Howe Island, thanks.


Very much doubt Lord Howe Island will see any other operators, let alone Virgin Blue. They have a limit as to how many people can stay on the island and only a limited amount of accomodation, so Qantas have the route to themselves pretty much. Not to mention, as Michael said, the fact that the runway is ridiculously short :)

[Al.B.SYD]

Think routes from Townsville to rest of Queensland would work, things like TSV - CNS is pretty much dominated by QF now, and is operating like 4x Daily.

Instead of Canberra's new services, it would be interesting to see DJ is expanding TSV rather than CNS. CNS is kinda an international port with lots of commutors from around the world transit in CNS to rest of Tropical Queensland.

Wouldn't be better to expand CNS rather than TSV?

TSV is the "capital" of Nth Qld with Governmental, Defence and other related businesses, so Corp/Business travel would likely show much more promise from TSV than CNS, which is still predominantly leisure.
Whether it's actually the right time to be chasing Corp is another matter.

The Embraers were made for these sort of services, as the carriers in Nth Am that operate them can attest to. Provides "big plane" service/comfort, but with the numbers that make these leaner routes work and work well for the most part.

[Hugh Jarse]

The E-170 will not "fit" into a 785m strip :)

[Will T]

Exactly, Hugh. One of the big questions remains what QLink will do with LHI once the 200 series Dash8's reach their use-by date, as they're really the only 36-ish seat equipment up to the mission.

[D Chan]

Exactly, Hugh. One of the big questions remains what QLink will do with LHI once the 200 series Dash8's reach their use-by date, as they're really the only 36-ish seat equipment up to the mission.

there really are not a lot of alternatives / replacement proprs in its class out there in the market

[Bruce Bramwell]

there really are not a lot of alternatives / replacement proprs in its class out there in the market

atr42-500

dhc-6-400

[Mike W]

^ Isn't a DHC-6 a Twin Otter?

If DHC-8 was meant, then the equiv ATR would be the '72'

[David Knudsen]

DHC-6-400 is the new build Twin Otter being built by Viking Air in Canada - but I think it will still only seat 19 people , and I don't know that it would have the range to make it to LHI with any sort of decent payload?

[Stefan Perkas]

Afternoon all,

Here are the schedules for the 5 new flights.

Canberra - Hobart eff 04APR09
DJ1201 CBR1045 - 1215HBA E70 D
DJ1200 HBA1245 - 1425CBR E70 D

Canberra - Townsville eff 06APR09
DJ1887 CBR0915 - 1200TSV E70 D
DJ1888 TSV0915 - 1200CBR E70 D

Townsville - Coolangatta eff 06APR09
DJ1830 TSV1230 - 1415OOL E70 D
DJ1831 OOL1445 - 1650TSV E70 D

Townsville - Cairns eff 06APR09
DJ1637 TSV0630 - 0725CNS E70 D
DJ1636 CNS0755 - 0845TSV E70 D

Townsville - Rockhampton eff 06APR09
DJ1906 TSV1730 - 1845ROK E70 D
DJ1905 ROK1915 - 2030TSV E70 D

[damian f]

As a country Queenslander, I am disappointed that Brisbane-Emerald flights didn't get announced by Virgin. (It has long been a rumour!) Most flights on this run on the QF Q400s are either full or cost over $500 for a one-way seat. There ain't much competition out here anymore with Macair gone too!

Damian

[Jarden S]

I wonder where Virgin will take the next Embraer to?
PER-OOL would be a good opportunity they are the two biggest cities in OZ not yet connected. They tried it with a 737 and stopped it. Maybe it work better with a smaller jet. Does the Embraer have the legs to do PER-OOL non stop. I believe they still got 6 more on order.
When is the next one due?
Where do you reckon they will fly them next to guys?

[Rhys Xanthis]

I don't think the E190 has the legs to do that.

[Marty H]

I don't think the E190 has the legs to do that.

It does have the 'legs' to do that actually.

[Greg F]

With all thats happening in the airline world I doubt there will any radical new routes......
And if what Lukas said earlier about HBA-ADL 'possibly' being cancelled I again raise doubts over HBA-CBR......... Maybe it will work with the smaller aircraft.

[Jarden S]

We still don't know where the E-170 came from to start these 5 new routes. I was just wondering what routes got canned. Are the Mel-Mildura flights still operating. Or maybe they had a bit of slack in the former E-170 schedules?

[Marty H]

We still don't know where the E-170 came from to start these 5 new routes. I was just wondering what routes got canned. Are the Mel-Mildura flights still operating. Or maybe they had a bit of slack in the former E-170 schedules?

They are and doing very nicely:)

[Greg F]

and making loads of money for DJ :D

[Marty H]

and making loads of money for DJ :D

I would say so:)

[Jarden S]

I reckon Virgin will give Qantas a run for their money on this route with the new E-jet. Qantas should look at deploying a 737-400 between CNS-TSV or they will miss out big time. Why would anyone fly a turboprop when they can take a jet for less money. Will QF match VB fares on this route I wonder.

[Kain C]

Article in today's Hobart Mercury:

http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2009/02/27/57891_tasmania-news.html

Ms O'Byrne also launched an autumn marketing program for Tourism Tasmania worth nearly $3 million.

She said Tourism Tasmania had been preparing business cases and making presentations to airline partners to encourage additional flights on existing routes and opening up new routes.

[Anthony T]

From Virgin Blue :

VIRGIN BLUE GOES TROPPO FOR TOWNSVILLE AND NORTH QLD

TOWNSVILLE MAKES VIRGIN BLUE HISTORY AS AIRLINE LAUNCHES 4 NEW FLIGHTS IN ONE DAY

Monday 6 April 2009: Townsville has landed a place in Virgin Blue's history books as the first and only destination that has ever had four new flights launched in one day.

Eight years after the first Virgin Blue flight touched down in Townsville, the award winning airline has embarked on a significant capacity increase with the launch of four new flights today. They include direct flights to four new services from Townsville to Cairns, Canberra, Gold Coast and Rockhampton.

Virgin Blue Chief Executive, Brett Godfrey said, "This is indeed a first for the Virgin Blue Group of Airlines. Never before have we committed four new routes to the one city on the same day so it's a leap of faith in Townsville, the community and the tourism potential of the destination. We are hopeful we will be on the receiving end of more of the terrific support we have received from the first day we touched down in this key regional Queensland city."

Virgin Blue already operates six flights a day to Townsville from Brisbane and Sydney but this is its first foray in to intra-Queensland routes.

Three of the four new services offer direct flights to destinations not currently serviced as a non-stop flight by any airline, namely Canberra, Gold Coast and Rockhampton. The additional services represent a 66% increase in frequency for Townsville.

Brett Godfrey continued, "After consultation with tourism and industry stakeholders, we identified these markets as being of importance to the people of Townsville in terms of convenient direct services so are willing to back these requests, commit aircraft to them and give them a shot".

Townsville Mayor Cr Les Tyrell welcomed the new services, saying: "This is a tremendous boost for air travel for regional Queensland at a time when it's needed most. The success of Virgin Blue with other services in and out of Townsville shows that if you provide the opportunities for people to travel in the North, they'll snap them up."

"These flights will provide an additional link with three major regional centres and our national capital. The extra visitors to Townsville and the opportunities generated can only be good for our city and its economy."

Brett Godfrey added, "Most of the focus of the new services is around intra-regional Queensland routes and this is an ideal opportunity to stimulate tourism within our home state, help businesses fly smarter and more affordability and provide Townsville, Rockhampton and the Gold Coast with closer internal connections as well as a direct link to Canberra."

Virgin Blue will operate the executive style EMBRAER jet on these routes, flying in the face of the tradition by other airlines to service regional communities with turbo-prop aircraft.

"In the current economic climate, decisions where to direct our aircraft are not randomly pulled out of a hat. We do in-depth analysis before we enter new markets and we are hopeful the new services will take off, however we need the support of the local community to maintain them on an ongoing basis. If there is sufficient demand, the flights will stay but if not it’s a case of “use it or lose it”, finished Brett Godfrey.


Also related:

TAKE OFF TO THE TROPICS OR TAKE A TRIP TO TASSIE!

VIRGIN BLUE LAUNCHES NEW FLIGHTS TO HOBART AND TOWNSVILLE

Monday 6 April 2009: The Virgin Blue Airlines Group is increasing its presence in the Canberra market, today launching not just one, but two brand new direct flights from the nation’s capital.

The airline will commence direct daily services from Canberra to both Hobart and Townsville, offering convenient and affordable access to two fantastic destinations which offer a range of leisure and business opportunities for Canberrans.

The new flights will complement Virgin Blue’s existing flights from Canberra to Brisbane (4/day), Melbourne (6/day), Gold Coast (1/day) Adelaide (1/day) and Sydney (8/day) and represent an increase of 10% in frequency to the Canberra market.

Virgin Blue Chief Executive, Brett Godfrey, said, “We have been working hard to stimulate the Canberra market from a tourism perspective and we have also had a strong focus on getting our fair share of air travel from within the Government and Corporate travel sectors. Our evolving product and services both in-flight and on the ground are striking a chord with travellers and we continue to make inroads. As a direct result of this, we are keen to add even more flight options to the Canberra route network.”

Both Hobart and Townsville are brand new direct flight options from the ACT, with Virgin Blue the only carrier to offer non-stop services to the destinations.

The Canberra-Townsville daily flight presents an opportunity to benefit Defence equipment suppliers and contractors along with government personnel, as it offers direct access to the city which is home to Lavarack Barracks (Australia’s largest Army base), Ross Island Barracks (Army amphibious operations) and RAAF Base Townsville (Permanent and Reserve Air Force).

Virgin Blue has also identified a trend of Guests taking advantage of connecting services between Canberra and Hobart via Melbourne. The airline is keen to offer quicker and more convenient access to the Tasmanian capital, world famous for its environmental wonders, as well as its burgeoning gourmet food and wine scene.

Virgin Blue will operate the executive style EMBRAER jet on these routes, the same aircraft that operates the Capital Jet services between Canberra and Sydney.

Brett Godfrey added, “We are pleased to be increasing our presence in Canberra and are hopeful it will have flow on benefits not just for the local business and government sectors but also for tourism in Canberra and surrounds itself.”

"In the current economic climate, decisions where to direct our aircraft are not randomly pulled out of a hat. We believe there is potential demand to support these new flights, have been buoyed by support for existing Virgin Blue services and are hopeful that support will be extended to the Tasmania and Townsville services.”


Anthony T

[Torin Wilson]

Virgin Blue already operates six flights a day to Townsville from Brisbane and Sydney but this is its first foray in to intra-Queensland routes.

Wouldn't Brisbane-Townsville be intra-Queensland?

[Jarden S]

Hi Jarden, no need to re-quote the exact post above in your message, thank you - mod

Yes your right. I guess they forgot about that just after writing it.

[Mike W]

Maybe they don't count Bris-vegas as real Queensland, only the regional centres...

[Dave Parer]

Article from today's Townsville Bulletin about the services that kicked off yesterday. Typical media....all these new routes ex TSV will be operated by E170's, yet the photo in paper has the Mayor's from both Townsville and Rockhampton posing in front of a 737.......

Yesterday's inaugural flight from TSV to CNS was operated by VH-ZHB. Seems the push is now on to link TSV with DRW.

http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/article/2009/04/07/48101_news.html

[Dave Parer]

Oops.....typo by me.

Yesterday's inaugural flights were;

VH-ZHF operated TSV-CNS and TSV-CBR

VH-ZHB operated TSV-OOL and TSV-ROK

[Kain C]

Anyone know what A/C operated the inaugural CBR-HBA? The new HBA service seemed to bypass the news down here; nothing on the local news nor the local newspaper. :confused:
My turn to try it out tomorrow! :)

[Lukas M]

If your interested about loads etc, I was in CBR the yesterday and the inbound HBA sector had 30pax, and the Townsville arrival...Well, Id rather not say :eek:

It was only a Tuesday, but let us know Kain how it all went.

[Daniel M]

and the Townsville arrival...Well, Id rather not say :eek:

Why not? For one, your pax figures for the HBA-CBR service are wrong. And secondly, the TSV-CBR service actually had a decent amount of pax...alot more than the HBA sector...perhaps get some firm facts next time ;)

[Lukas M]

hey, just telling you what the aerocare guy told me. those world you have in bold is the exact same as they guy said! Who cares anyway, Tueday is usually a quieter day than most.

OOL-CBR appears to be a success.. E170 yes?

[Kain C]

perhaps get some firm facts next time

Are you going to share the firm facts?

[Dave Parer]

After all the media hype about the E170's all operating these new services out of Townsville, today 737 VH-VBN operated four of the sectors. Today's movements were;

DJ1637 TSV-CNS & DJ1636 CNS-TSV by VH-ZHB
DJ1888 TSV-CBR by VH-ZHB
DJ1887 CBR-TSV by VH-VBN
DJ1830 TSV-OOL & DJ1831 OOL-TSV by VH-VBN
DJ1906 TSV-ROK & DJ1905 ROK-TSV by VH-VBN

[Kain C]

but let us know Kain how it all went.

It all went very well on ZHC today. The CBR-HBA service arrived into HBA slightly early, and my HBA-CBR service also arrived 10 or so minutes early into CBR. The whole thing seemed to go very quickly as the flight time was only 1:15 or so in the end, which sure beats the 4 hours it takes to connect via MEL! Was told 78pax on CBR-HBA and 55 on the HBA-CBR, so good loads as you would expect heading into Easter. Had two captains on the flightdeck; is this unusual?

[Greg F]

it will be interesting to see how loads on HBA-CBR go hold up over a 6-12 month period

[Mike W]

On a side note, cabin crew have been asked to put forward EOIs for 6months wet lease based in Prague flying to the mediterranean (sp?), commencing next month...


What a great opportunity for young and single crew to do a bit of paid OE :cool:

[Kain C]

Had the more conventional one captain, one F/O on my return journey, also ZHC - Annoying! But the Easter Bunny had been to Virgin Blue that morning, so all the pax got from free choccies :D, so that made up for it!

FWIW it was a lighter load as expected on Easter Sunday, maybe 45 to 50 - I'm only estimating. Let's hope Liam is wrong and the service does do well over 6-12 months. Having a monopoly should allow them to make money from it, and they would make more if they could get an exception to operate just 2 cabin crew rather than 3 in the 78 seat jet.

Maybe DJ should put an ad for the HBA-CBR on their billboard at HBA, as they currently have one advertising 35 weekly HBA-MEL flights, which isn't actually correct as from a couple of weeks ago! Also, the airlines section in the local newspaper in Hobart lists HBA-CBR operated by Tiger Airways, so more advertising required!!!