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Virgin Blue Airlines Pty Ltd is an Australia n Low-cost Airline and Australia's second-biggest Airline . It was founded by the British businessman Richard Branson's Virgin Group and is now majority controlled by Toll Holdings . It is based in Brisbane , Queensland , and is currently the third most profitable airline in the world, behind Brazil's GOL , and Ryanair .http://www.crikey.com.au/Business/20070821-Virgin-Blue-the-third-most-profitable-airline-in-the-world.html HISTORY Virgin Blue was launched on 3 August 2000 , with two aircraft initially offering 7 return flights a day between Brisbane and Sydney . This has been expanded to cover all major Australian cities and many holiday destinations. The timing of Virgin Blue's entry into the Australian market was fortunate as it was able to fill the vacuum created by the failure of Ansett in September 2001. Ansett's failure allowed Virgin Blue to grow rapidly to become Australia's second domestic carrier, rather than just a cut-price alternative to the established players. It also gave them access to terminal space without which growth would have been significantly limited. Delays in negotiating access to the former Ansett terminal at Sydney Airport however forced Virgin Blue to initially use a temporary terminal there. ]] Virgin Group's holding in Virgin Blue has since been reduced, initially via a sale of a half interest to Australian logistics conglomerate Patrick Corporation , and later by a public Float . In early 2005 Patrick launched a hostile takeover for Virgin Blue. Patrick had been unhappy for some time with the company's direction. By the closure of the offer, Patrick held 62% of the company, giving it control. Virgin Group retains a 25% share. In May 2006 Toll Holdings acquired Patrick and became the majority owner of Virgin Blue. Virgin Blue uses a familiar formula pioneered by airlines such as Southwest Airlines and Ryanair eliminating costs such as included in-flight meals and printed tickets in favour of selling food on-board and using Telephone and Internet booking systems. It has also cut costs by limiting the number of airports serviced and by operating one type of aircraft, the Boeing 737 . In September 2003, Virgin Blue announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Pacific Blue , would offer a similar cheaper service between New Zealand and mainland Australia . Pacific Blue aims to position itself as a low-cost competitor to Air New Zealand and Qantas on trans-Tasman routes. Air New Zealand have also created a low-cost airline Freedom Air and Qantas deployed Jetstar on selected NZ routes. Both Qantas (through Qantas and also its wholly owned NZ subsidiary Jetconnect operating as a Qantas branded franchise) and Air NZ continue to operate these routes in their own right. -800 at Melbourne]] Qantas responded to Virgin Blue's lower cost base by creating a new low-cost domestic carrier, Jetstar in 2004. In May 2005 Jetstar announced that it would also commence services to Christchurch , New Zealand and in 2006 many other overseas destinations. Like other brands in the Virgin family, Virgin Blue takes an informal and humorous approach to business. On one flight, Richard Branson held a toilet paper race down the aisle of a Virgin Blue plane. Its inflight food menu is named A La Cart (a parody of the manner that food is served using a cart). However, this attitude has been reviewed, due to the airline's recent focus on corporate customers. From its inception in 2001, Virgin Blue did not have interline or marketing alliances with other airlines outside the Virgin Group, similar to the long-standing approach of Southwest Airlines. The one exception to this plan was a codeshare agreement with United Airlines , which allowed United customers to fly from America to any of Virgin Blue's Australian destinations that United did not already serve. In 2006, in an effort to be more competitive with arch rival Qantas, Virgin Blue started exploring these relationships, forming frequent flyer agreements with Emirates , Hawaiian Airlines and Malaysia Airlines . Virgin Blue also has an Airline Agreement with Regional Express for Regional Travelers. Virgin Blue's name was the result of an open competition; it is a play on the predominantly red livery and the Australian Slang tradition of calling a Red-headed male 'Blue' or 'Bluey'. Virgin Press Release, 5 February 2000 NEW INTERNATIONAL SERVICES ''For full article see V Australia '' In early 2006 Virgin Blue announced its intention to operate up to 7 flights a week to the US using either Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) or San Francisco International Airport (SFO), saying that the route was needed to make the airline as profitable as possible. The airline has also expressed interest in flying to Japan . They were granted approval for up to 10 flights a week from Australian regulatory bodies on July 25 , 2007 . They are still waiting on approval from the United States authorities. Virgin Blue has acquired six . Naming competition The name of Virgin Blue's international airline was decided in the same way that Virgin Blue's own name was found, with a public naming competition conducted in early June 2007. On 25 June , 2007 , Virgin Blue released the 8 finalists of the naming competition. They are as follows:
Australia Blue and Virgin Pacific were early favourites to win the competition, despite a problem with the latter, as Singapore Airlines (through their stake in Virgin Atlantic ) have control over the use of the 'Virgin' name on International air routes, and have not, in the past, allowed its use (see Pacific Blue .) On July 25 , 2007 , it was announced by Virgin Blue that " V Australia " will be the name of the new carrier. {Link without Title} Services are scheduled to begin in the second half of 2008 . FLEET The Virgin Blue fleet consists of the following aircraft as of September 2007 The average age of the Virgin Blue fleet is 3.9 years as of April 2006. Initially Virgin Blue leased their aircraft but recent additions to the fleet have generally been purchased outright. Virgin Blue owned aircraft are indicated by the Boeing customer code FE. In June 2006, Virgin Blue placed an order for 9 Boeing 737-800 by exercising purchase rights it held. Delivery of the aircraft is scheduled to begin in 2008 {Link without Title} . In November 2006, Virgin Blue announced plans to purchase 11 Embraer 190 and three Embraer 170 aircraft, with options for six more E-Jets. Virgin Blue Orders Embraer E-Jet Aircraft (The Australian: November 2, 2006) In January 2007, German newspaper Börsen Zeitung Virgin Blue Planning US Flights (Reuters: January 17, 2007) told of information that Virgin Blue is in the final stages of buying a brand new fleet of long distance Airbus or Boeing aircraft. This is to start new routes between Australia and long haul destinations in response to , 2007 ) Like "big brother" Virgin Atlantic , Virgin Blue gives its planes imaginative and amusing names. Each aircraft also features a "virgin girl" as nose art, complete with a wide-brimmed Aussie hat, trailing an Australian Flag . Blue received its first Embraer 170 in early September 2007 at a special ceremony at the Embraer plant in Sao Jose dos Campos." Virgin Blue takes delivery of its first Embraer E-170 airliner " Flight Global, 04/09/07 INCIDENTS AND ACCIDENTS In December 2005 a Virgin Blue Boeing 737-700 was flying from Townsville to Brisbane when a cockpit window smashed. The plane made a emergency landing at Brisbane Airport . Due to the rapid descent some passengers suffered ear discomfort and other minor injuries. In August 2007 a , 2005 ) THE LOUNGE To capture a share of the business traveller market, Virgin Blue decided to provide a Members Lounge facility for travellers. Originally this was called ''The Blue Room'' and provided facilities to members and guests on a pay-as-you-go basis. In 2006, Virgin Blue revamped the lounge facilities and renamed it The Lounge, which offers all-inclusive facilities for a membership fee or casual fee basis. Facilities that are provided include Buffet food and refreshments, newspapers, computers, and WiFi internet access for travellers. Currently they are located at Brisbane , Sydney , Melbourne and Adelaide airports. Canberra has been announced as the next location that "The Lounge" will open, it will be in the same location as the former Ansett Australia Golden Wing lounge. LIVE2AIR In December 2006, Virgin Blue announced a partnership between Australian cable television providers Foxtel and Austar , to introduce a "Live2Air" {Link without Title} service on all flights by mid 2007. Approximately half the fleet had been fitted with Live2Air facilities by March 2007. Virgin Blue was the first carrier outside North America to introduce multi-channel real-time satellite TV to its flights. The Live2Air service costs customers $5 per flight sector during an 'introductory period'. Following the 'introductory period', the service will cost $5 on flights under 2 hours and $10 on flights over 2 hours. The only payment method is via an in-seat credit card swipe facility. Debit cards cannot be used. SPONSORSHIP AND MARKETING On 8 February 2007 , it was announced that Virgin Blue had signed a two year sponsorship deal with NRL team South Sydney Rabbitohs . The Rabbitohs are the first rugby league team Virgin Blue has sponsored.http://www.asiatraveltips.com/news07/82-SydneyRabbitohs.shtml Boeing 737-800 VH-VUA has slight changes to its livery to commerorate this sponsorship. The Australian flag held by the 'Virgin Girl' replaced with the Rabbitohs flag. For the 2007 Super 14 season Virgin Blue is the sleeve sponsor for Queensland Reds. Virgin Blue is also the official sponsor of the (Australian) National Basketball League (NBL). CONTROVERSY
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