Changes to VA shorthaul Asian flying

As expected by a lot of people Virgin Australia has today announced it will withdraw from the Perth - Phuket route and hand its Perth/Melbourne/Adelaide - Bali routes to subsidiary Tigerair.

Tigerair will take over the Bali flights from March, with the Phuket route being dropped from February.

Regulatory approval is still begin sought for Tigerair to operate a fleet of 3 all economy Boeing 737-800s on the Bali flights.  Tigerair has until now been an all A320 operator.

Virgin will redirect its capacity from these routes to an increase on Sydney/Melbourne - Christchurch as well as seasonal capacity increases on flights to Fiji and the Solomon Islands.  Virgin reduced its capacity into Christchurch as a result of the effect on passenger numbers from the Christchurch earthquakes.

These changes come on the back of the annual profit announcement from Virgin which was a bottom line net loss of $94M AUD.  It is expected that these changes along with a $1b cost saving program will return the airline to profitability in the near future.

Read more about the changes to these services via the Brisbane Times HERE

What is Nyepi Day? And why are there no flights?

Today is Nyepi the Balinese 'Day of Silence' which is celebrated as part of Isakawarsa with tomorrow being Balinese New Years Day.  Although a Hindu festival, Nyepi is observed by all in Bali, a description of it follows

Observed from 6 a.m. until 6 a.m. the next morning, Nyepi is a day reserved for self-reflection, and as such, anything that might interfere with that purpose is restricted. The main restrictions are no lighting fires (and lights must be kept low); no working; no entertainment or pleasure; no traveling; and, for some, no talking or eating at all. The effect of these prohibitions is that Bali's usually bustling streets and roads are empty, there is little or no noise from TVs and radios, and few signs of activity are seen even inside homes. The only people to be seen outdoors are the Pecalang, traditional security men who patrol the streets to ensure the prohibitions are being followed.  Although Nyepi is primarily a Hindu holiday, non-Hindu residents of Bali observe the day of silence as well, out of respect for their fellow citizens. Even tourists are not exempt; although free to do as they wish inside their hotels, no one is allowed onto the beaches or streets, and the only airport in Bali remains closed for the entire day. The only exceptions granted are for emergency vehicles carrying those with life-threatening conditions and women about to give birth.

This effects the following flights to/from Australia today/tomorrow morning

KEY:

JQ - Jetstar

VA - Virgin Australia

GA - Garuda Indonesia

QZ - Indonesia AirAsia

320 - Airbus A320

73H - Boeing 737-8FE(W)

333 - Airbus A330-300

332 - Airbus A330-200

100 - Fokker F100

788 - Boeing 787-8

Then there were 4

The Virgin Australia(NZ) fleet has dwindled to just 4 frames with the latest entering the Brisbane hanger for reintroduction to the Australian register and business class upgrade.

ZK-PBI operated its final flights as VA120/121 BNE-DUD-BNE on Sunday 22-February-2015 with its scheduled flight on Monday 23-February-2015 VA171/170 BNE-VLI-BNE cancelled. It was removed from the New Zealand register today Tuesday 24-February-2015.

Meanwhile its predecessor in the hanger VH-VOY (ZK-PBD) made its first flight this morning Tuesday 24-February-2015 as VA1384 BNE-ADL.

The CASA register has been updated and shows that 4 of the 5 ex NZ aircraft (excluding PBI) have been registered to Virgin Australia International with just VH-VUO (PBM) being registered to Virgin Australia (Domestic)  This gives the opportunity for these frames to once again fly the Tasman and Pacific Island routes with the New Zealand based crews.

However to this point only VH-VOO (PBA) and VH-VUB (PBJ) have flown international and both have operated on the Denpasar Bali routes.  Besides the remaining VA(NZ) aircraft the Tasman/Pacific Island routes have all been flown by the newer VH-YI* series aircraft.

Tigerair ups BNE

Tigerair have announced they will open a new base at Brisbane Airport as well as introducing flight from Brisbane to Adelaide, Cairns and Darwin.

The new Adelaide service will launch in March while the Cairns and Darwin services are scheduled to commence in April.

All three flights currently look like a single daily services 
BNE-ADL TT313 15:50-19:10           ADL-BNE TT318 20:30-22:20
BNE-CNS TT486 12:25-14:45           CNS-BNE TT491 15:15-17:20
BNE-DRW TT652 20:45-00:25*         DRW-BNE TT655 01:00-05:10

JQ launch ADL-AKL

Jetstar have launched a new 3x weekly service between Auckland and Adelaide from December 16th.

The service will operate Monday's, Wednesday's & Saturdays utilising the mainstay of the JQ short haul fleet the Airbus A320.

Jetstar Group Chief Commercial Officer David Koczkar said the launch delivers the first direct low fares flights between the two destinations.“The customer response to our trans-Tasman flying has been strong over the past few years and we’re delighted to now introduce direct flights from Adelaide to Auckland,” Mr Koczkar said.

It is yet unknown if the flight will route AKL-ADL-AKL or ADL-AKL-ADL

This introduction will see Air New Zealand lose their monopoly on this route, however Qantas have also previously operated this rtoute.

Read more including the introductory sale fares at the Jetstar website HERE

Aviation Blogs & Facebook

Depending on what sort of device you are reading this on somewhere over that way --> you'll see a list of great aviation blogs to follow.  Well some of those blogs are also on facebook, and we're all family so here are some links to them

Central Queensland Plane Spotting
BLOG
FACEBOOK

Brisbane Airport Movements
BLOG
FACEBOOK

South East Queensland Aviation
BLOG
FACEBOOK

Plane Spotting Adelaide
BLOG
FACEBOOK

There are probably a whole lot more and I don't pretend this to be a full list.  If you want your blog or facebook page/group featured then flick me an email, the address is also over there somewhere -->