Virgin Australia is seeking permission to extend code share flights with Singapore Airlines to selected New Zealand services. The airline filed its request with the International Air Services Commission alongside a similar request to extend code sharing services with Delta Airlines on flights to Indonesia. The push to extend its alliance with Singapore Airlines across
Western China’s Sichuan Airlines has joined the parade of Chinese carriers to Australia, launching three times weekly services from Chengdu to Melbourne. Sichuan, which launched international services in June 2012, will also establish an office in Melbourne. The announcement follows a trade mission to China by the Victorian government, which hailed the deal as a
While Qantas has argued that its international operations are too weak to survive without Emirates, Virgin Australia is claiming that Qantas’s strength means the proposed alliance will undermine competition. In a submission to the ACCC, Virgin has urged the consumer watchdog to deny Qantas’s application for interim approval of the alliance, saying the tie-up would
Qantas will close its first class lounge at Singapore’s Changi Airport as it shifts the focus of its international operations to Dubai, Australian Business Traveller has reported. The airline had launched renovations of the Singapore lounge in May but says the work will be dropped as a result of its alliance with Emirates, which will
Tiger Airways has slipped back into last place for on-time performance but says the drop is only temporary. BITRE figures for August show Qantas and Virgin Australia tied with an 82.3 per cent on-time arrival rate, followed by Jetstar at 78.1 per cent and Tiger at 73.4 per cent. Tiger had dramatically improved its on-time
The union representing Virgin Australia pilots has urged continued negotiations after its members rejected the airline’s contract offer. Nearly two-thirds of pilots voted against the new Enterprise Bargaining Agreement put forward by the carrier, the Virgin International Pilots’ Association says. “The Virgin Australia pilot group has spoken loud and clear,” union executive director Simon O’Hara
