V Australia cans Melbourne - LAX

[Montague S]

non-stop MEL-JNB, I can really see this turning into "non-stop" LAX, where pax are ferried up to SYD for the flight, too bad they miss out on the lucrative expat market that is in WA.

[Andrew M]

Yes the Herald Sun mentions that MEL-LAX was only ever going to be 2 x weekly....

[Robert S]

Originally Posted by Andrew M

Article states the MEL-LAX was only going to be twice a week....... That is rubbish it was always 3 times a week

A newspaper getting a slight detail wrong in an aviation story is hardly a newsflash.

The SMH got it right if it makes you feel any better.

http://business.smh.com.au/business/...0817-en22.html

[Andrew M]

http://www.vaustralia.com.au/about-u.../P_009799.html

No mention of the cuts to MEL-LAX until December

My point was that V Australia have covered up the delays on the MEL-LAX route pretty well with all this expansion talk!

Just all good news

You can STILL book MEL-LAX (non-stop) three times a week from 1st December on their website

You can STILL book MEL-LAX (non-stop) three times a week from 1st December on their website

Thats because IT IS 3 WEEKLY from 1st December

[Marty H]

Correct Lukas it wont go back to two weekly until MEL-JNB starts in March 2010.

[NickN]

too bad they miss out on the lucrative expat market that is in WA

Perth is already well served by South African. Unless they were really going to undercut the SA fare by a considerable amount they probably wouldn't find many willing to switch, especially ex-pats who are loyal to SA.

Melbourne seems like an odd choice for a MEL-JNB seems like an odd route considering many expats are in Sydney and Perth however Sydney is also well served by QF so I suppose it makes sense to find a new route to establish new business on.

For what its worth, any of my family that fly here from South Africa (They are spread far and wide from Port Elizabeth, Durban, Sasolburg and Pretoria) they always end up flying SA to Perth first even though QF offers a direct Sydney flight.

[Andrew M]

Originally Posted by Lukas M

Thats because IT IS 3 WEEKLY from 1st December

NO - You are wrong there

http://www.vaustralia.com.au/about-u.../P_009799.html

Melbourne to Los Angeles, USA direct flights twice weekly from 1 December 2009.

[Michael Morrison]

Big deal they arent doing MEL-LAX 3 weekly.... at least they still get a non stop MEL-LAX option twice weekly... better than nothing!

MEL also does well with the other new services so you can't complain to much

[Montague S]

Originally Posted by NickN

Perth is already well served by South African. Unless they were really going to undercut the SA fare by a considerable amount they probably wouldn't find many willing to switch, especially ex-pats who are loyal to SA.

6 flights per week isn't what I would call well served, there is plenty of room for more competition...I don't get the Melbourne idea, ok, the world cup gig and all is one thing, but what happens when that month is over? There isn't a large expat community of SA's in Melbourne.