Virgin Blue Eyeing B767s or ex-Emirates A330s

[Will H]

Originally Posted by Nigel C

Without wading through a blog, I trust they'd be used for international ops? Because there sure isn't room in Sydney for domestic ops unless they pushed JetStar off Bay 49 or used bussing operations only.

Sometimes it's worth wading through.

While the widebody aircraft are expected to join Virgin Blue's fleet under the international V Australia banner, the source says it is expected they will also fly on domestic trunk routes. Although Virgin Blue's present domestic gate space at Sydney airport is inadequate for widebody aircraft, the source says the airport has made "accommodations" and is now suitable for the A330 and B767.

[Oliver Gigacz]

Can Melbourne (T3) and Brisbane (Virgin Domestic) accommodate B767s and A330s?

[Skip Fulton]

Melbourne can take the B777 so yes. Brisbane can I think but needs adjustments to aerobridges

[Jason Carruthers]

BNE is capable of handling at least 2-3 767's at any given time. Gate 40 has seen 747's during the 767 Groundings.

[Nigel C]

Originally Posted by Will H

Sometimes it's worth wading through.

But sometimes it's not.

Although Virgin Blue's present domestic gate space at Sydney airport is inadequate for widebody aircraft, the source says the airport has made "accommodations" and is now suitable for the A330 and B767.

The blog seems to contradict itself here. On one hand it's saying the situation presently is 'inadequate' at Sydney, and then it's saying 'now suitable'. So we're expected to not only trust the nameless 'source' to try and validate the story, but we're also to make our own conclusion as to what the author is really telling us?

Secondly, just what are these 'accommodations' that have been made, or could the source not provide these? Maybe the author didn't feel the need to follow up on this?


To me, anonymous, half-cocked (and often untrue) statements made on web pages and forums such as Pprune just aren't worth wading through.

[D Chan]

A few comments here:
- JB is not an idiot and he would have learnt the lesson from QF's a332 ops on cityflyer services and how long it takes to turnaround an a332, the only other option is 767 and it's most likely going to be leased second hand.
- significant investment is required to update products, fleet, lounges and so forth in line with their new strategy:
1) where is this money going to come from, and does this explain why their shareprice is so low again (31c)
2) how long will it take for them to generate return on investment?
3) what will this mean for its old image to the leisure market when the new brand is relaunched?
4) what does this mean for its 737, embraer, 777 fleets when a 4th aircraft type is introduced - how will this impact its cost base?

[Will H]

Originally Posted by Nigel C

The blog seems to contradict itself here. On one hand it's saying the situation presently is 'inadequate' at Sydney, and then it's saying 'now suitable'. So we're expected to not only trust the nameless 'source' to try and validate the story, but we're also to make our own conclusion as to what the author is really telling us?

OK, a bit tricky--was inadequate but will be suitable if it's not already. Without knowing what the changes are (sources couldn't elaborate) and if they have already been physically made it's hard to say much more.

Secondly, just what are these 'accommodations' that have been made, or could the source not provide these? Maybe the author didn't feel the need to follow up on this?

I did feel the need to follow up but there wasn't further information available.

[Will H]

Originally Posted by D Chan

A few comments here:
- JB is not an idiot and he would have learnt the lesson from QF's a332 ops on cityflyer services and how long it takes to turnaround an a332, the only other option is 767 and it's most likely going to be leased second hand.
- significant investment is required to update products, fleet, lounges and so forth in line with their new strategy:
1) where is this money going to come from, and does this explain why their shareprice is so low again (31c)
2) how long will it take for them to generate return on investment?
3) what will this mean for its old image to the leisure market when the new brand is relaunched?
4) what does this mean for its 737, embraer, 777 fleets when a 4th aircraft type is introduced - how will this impact its cost base?

A few thoughts:
1. JB (and Godfrey when he was around) have made clear you need to spend money to make money

2. I suspect only a few people within VB will known that answer, and even then will be very approximate. It's hard to measure a return on investment of a lounge upgrade since you can't easily measure how many pax are booking higher fare tickets because of the lounge.

3. Depends what the new image is

4. Well costs aren't going to go down, but the thinking would be that the additional cost would be offset by higher revenue generated from new aircraft

[Nigel C]

Originally Posted by Will H

OK, a bit tricky--was inadequate but will be suitable if it's not already. Without knowing what the changes are (sources couldn't elaborate) and if they have already been physically made it's hard to say much more.

So if it's hard to tell the full story, is it really worth publishing incomplete dribs and drabs? If the source can't elaborate then that tells me that a) they really don't know what they're talking about; b) they are only speculating themselves; or c) they're speaking way out of class.

I did feel the need to follow up but there wasn't further information available.

So again, if the story is incomplete (and therefore at risk of being inaccurate), is it really worth putting your name to it and publishing it?

[Dave Dale]

Originally Posted by D Chan

'
4) what does this mean for its 737, embraer, 777 fleets when a 4th aircraft type is introduced - how will this impact its cost base?

Did I read somewhere here in another thread not long ago that Virgin were thinking of getting rid of the Embraer fleet? If so, is this part of some new strategy (or a costly mistake)?