I've had a read of the full article. Nothing new or surprising.
Officially V hasn't made a decision. 777s, if the route was to be launched in Feb 2012, have long been ruled out. They were looking to deploy an A330 BNE-SIN-AUH, mirroring Etihad's BNE schedule.
With the capacity commitment with Delta as part of receiving US DOT approval for ATI, they were unable to reduce US sectors year-round to free up a 777 for AUH.
Looking at V's AUH loads, it's not surprising BNE-AUH (however you get there) is not a priority.
Capex is not a fair comparison. A 777 would be purchased outright ($$$) whereas the A330s are so far leased ($), in short supply, and the domestic market in Australia--and some Asian markets--is where the bucks are.
The outstanding questions are what double digit number of A330s Virgin wants and when this decade they will achieve that figure.
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