Virgin Australia has adjusted its Australian network today to introduce two new direct services from Melbourne to Los Angeles and Perth to Abu Dhabi.
Announced this morning, the airline will fly direct from Melbourne to LA to meet demand for trans-Pacific flights while also increasing the already feisty competition between Australia and the USA.
In case you’re well out of the loop, there’s been a gritty airline price war on trans-Pacific services over the last year, thanks to new airlines (such as American Airlines) kick-starting flights to and from Australia and others adding new destinations (like Qantas adding San Francisco).
This has resulted in Aussies enjoying record low airfares to the US for almost a year now, a trend which could continue come 4 April 2017, when Virgin Australia introduces its five weekly flights between Melbourne and Los Angeles.
Utilising the Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, the new service will increase competition while also giving Victorians more choice when flying to the City of Angels to try its new super high glass slide and check out its reliable public transport.
However, in order to introduce the new service, the airline said it will cease its three times weekly Sydney-Abu Dhabi flights after 4 February 2017 and will reduce Brisbane-Los Angeles flights from seven per week to six per week from 7 April 2017.
Virgin Australia Group CEO John Borghetti said the US is a key market for Virgin Australia and “this enables us to service Los Angeles from the three biggest gateways in Australia – Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney”.
“In partnership with Delta Air Lines, we will soon offer 25 services each week from Australia to Los Angeles and remain the only trans-Pacific alliance to offer Business Class guests lie flat beds with direct aisle access on all services.”
John Borghetti, Virgin Australia Group CEO
The airline has also announced new Perth to Abu Dhabi flights, which will operate three times weekly.
Utilising its A330 aircraft for the first time on a long-haul service, new flights increase the number of services offered on the route from seven to 10 per week through the carrier’s alliance with Etihad Airways.