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Founded | 2003[1] | ||||||
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Commenced operations | 29 January 2004 | ||||||
Ceased operations | June 2020 | ||||||
Hubs | Auckland | ||||||
Secondary hubs | Christchurch | ||||||
Focus cities | |||||||
Frequent-flyer program | Velocity Rewards | ||||||
Alliance | Air New Zealand (formerly) | ||||||
Fleet size | 10 | ||||||
Destinations | 16 | ||||||
Parent company | Virgin Australia Holdings | ||||||
Headquarters | Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand | ||||||
Key people |
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Website | virginaustralia |
Virgin Australia Airlines (NZ) Limited formerly Pacific Blue Airlines (NZ) Limited, [1] was an airline based in New Zealand. It was established as the New Zealand subsidiary of Australian airline Virgin Blue (now Virgin Australia). It was a fully owned subsidiary of Virgin Australia Holdings. It was renamed Virgin Australia Airlines (NZ) Ltd in December 2011 when its parent company decided to bring all its airlines under the one banner. [2]
It was based at Christchurch and Auckland [3] and operated air services between New Zealand and Australia as well as the Pacific Islands. It also operated services on behalf of Virgin Samoa (formerly known as Polynesian Blue).
The airline has brought all its flying under its parent VA Air Operating Certificate. The final New Zealand registered Pacific Blue aircraft ZK-PBL finished up flying 13 March 2015 as VA161 AKL-BNE, bringing a visible end to Pacific Blue and being renamed to Virgin Australia NZ (VANZ). With the withdrawal of ZK-PBL, the New Zealand register connection ended after 11 years of aircraft on the New Zealand register from January 23, 2004, to March 14, 2015. [4]
The airline was established in 2003 and started operations on 29 January 2004 with a service between Christchurch and Brisbane, Australia. [5]
On 1 August 2007, the ICAO code was changed from PBI to PBN. This was done in consultation with air traffic controllers to prevent confusion between the letter I and the number 1 in flight plans.
On 21 August 2007, Pacific Blue announced its intention to begin domestic services in New Zealand [6] with the first flights commencing 12 November 2007. The initial routes were Auckland–Wellington, Christchurch–Wellington and Auckland–Christchurch. Later Christchurch to Dunedin flights started.
Pacific Blue announced its rollout of Premium economy seating across its fleet from March 2010 to match that of its sister Virgin Blue. Premium Economy is the front three rows of each aircraft – fitted with a unique red leather converter seat that folds from three abreast to two abreast when used in Premium Economy configuration.
On 16 August 2010, it was announced that Pacific Blue would be withdrawing from the New Zealand domestic market, with aircraft being reallocated to tran-tasman and medium-haul routes. [7]
The last Pacific Blue domestic New Zealand service was operated on 17 October 2010, from Wellington to Auckland.
Pacific Blue was renamed Virgin Australia Airlines (NZ) Ltd in December 2011, as part of a unification of the company's holdings under a common brand.
In March 2015, the last New Zealand registered Virgin 737 ZK-PBL was withdrawn and placed on the Australian register, ending over 11 years of New Zealand AOC operations. All aircraft were distributed between Virgin Australia's domestic and international arms on the VH register.
VANZ Auckland and Christchurch based pilots and cabin crew continued to fly the same routes and some of the same aircraft under the Virgin Australia International Airlines air operator certificate.
On 3 April 2020 amid the Coronavirus outbreak and worldwide lockdowns, Virgin Australia closed its New Zealand bases leaving all 208 pilots and over 300 cabin crew redundant. [8] [9]
The affected unions (NZALPA and E Tu) were highly critical of this decision and the consultation that proceeded it, as Virgin would not provide any meaningful information for counter proposals to be formulated. [8] [9]
The airline operated scheduled passenger services between New Zealand and Australia; and to the Pacific Islands. [10] New Zealand served airports are: Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin and Queenstown. Formerly Hamilton was served from Brisbane services ended in October 2012. [11] International destinations served are: Brisbane, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Nadi, Port Vila, Apia–Faleolo, Nuku'alofa, Rarotonga and Sydney. Formerly Cairns (ex Auckland), Port Moresby, and Honiara (both ex Brisbane) were served.
The fleet consisted of nine Boeing 737 aircraft, which were registered in New Zealand. The airline's Boeing 737s were all former Pacific Blue aircraft. The nine aircraft were registered ZK-PBA, PBB, PBD, PBG, PBI, PBJ, PBK, PBL, and PBM. [12] Out of Pacific Blue's 10-strong Boeing 737 fleet, nine continued to fly for Virgin Australia NZ , while ZK-PBC was retired before Virgin Australia NZ was established. [13]
Aircraft | Total | Passengers |
---|---|---|
Boeing 737-800 | 9 | 176 (168 economy + 8 business class) |
Air New Zealand Limited is the flag carrier airline of New Zealand. Based in Auckland, the airline operates scheduled passenger flights to 20 domestic and 30 international destinations in 18 countries, primarily around and within the Pacific Rim. The airline has been a member of the Star Alliance since 1999.
Freedom Air was a New Zealand low-cost airline which operated since 8 December 1995 to March 2008. It was part of the Air New Zealand Group which ran scheduled passenger services from New Zealand to Australia and Fiji and charter services within New Zealand. Its main hub was Auckland Airport.
Ansett Australia was a major Australian airline group, based in Melbourne, Victoria. The airline flew domestically within Australia and from the 1990s to destinations in Asia. After operating for 65 years, the airline was placed into administration in 2001 following a financial collapse and subsequent organised liquidation in 2002, subject to deed of company arrangement. The last flight touched down on 5 March 2002.
Virgin Australia, the trading name of Virgin Australia Airlines Pty Ltd, is an Australian-based airline. It is the largest airline by fleet size to use the Virgin brand. It commenced services on 31 August 2000 as Virgin Blue, with two aircraft on a single route. It suddenly found itself as a major airline in Australia's domestic market after the collapse of Ansett Australia in September 2001. The airline has since grown to directly serve 32 cities in Australia, from hubs in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.
Tasman Empire Airways Limited (1940–1965), better known as TEAL, is the former name of Air New Zealand.
New Zealand National Airways Corporation, popularly known as NAC, established by the New Zealand National Airways Act, 1945, was the national domestic airline of New Zealand until 1978 when it amalgamated with New Zealand's international airline, Air New Zealand. The airline was headquartered in Wellington.
Hamilton Airport is an airport located 14 kilometres south of the city of Hamilton in the Waikato region, in New Zealand. It is sited at Rukuhia, which was the name of the Royal New Zealand Air Force base on that site during World War II.
Air National was an airline based in Auckland, New Zealand. It operated domestic and international charter services and scheduled passenger services for Air New Zealand Link. Its main bases were Auckland International Airport
Eagle Airways was a regional airline based in Hamilton, New Zealand and was wholly owned by Air New Zealand, operating regional services under the Air New Zealand Link brand. The airline was disbanded on 26 August 2016, with staff absorbed into Air New Zealand's other subsidiaries.
Mount Cook Airline was a regional airline based in Christchurch, New Zealand. Formerly part of the Mount Cook Group and latterly a subsidiary of Air New Zealand, it operated scheduled services throughout the country under the Air New Zealand Link brand. In December 2019, the brand name was retired with all services operated under the Air New Zealand banner.
Air Freight NZ was a cargo airline based in Auckland, New Zealand. It operated scheduled overnight cargo services on behalf of owner Freightways, and is supported by sister company Fieldair holdings. Domestic charter services are also operated. Its main base is Auckland Airport, with hubs at Christchurch International Airport and Palmerston North International Airport.
Palmerston North Airport, originally called Milson Aerodrome, is an airport in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand, serving Palmerston North City and the Central North Island regions. It is located in the suburb of Milson, on the outskirts of Palmerston North, New Zealand, approximately 5.5 km (3.4ml) NE from the central business district of Palmerston North City. The airport is 100% owned by the Palmerston North City Council and covers an area of 208ha. The airport is New Zealand's 8th busiest and handled a total of 515,727 passengers in the 2016 financial year. The airport handles around 30 commercial passenger flights per day to and from Auckland, Christchurch, Hamilton, Napier, Nelson as well as cargo flights on week nights between Auckland and Christchurch.
Virgin Samoa, formerly Polynesian Blue, was the flag carrier of Samoa. It was owned by Virgin Australia Holdings (49%), the Government of Samoa (49%) and Grey Investment Group (2%). Polynesian Blue took over the long haul flights which were operated by Polynesian Airlines. In December 2011 Polynesian Blue was renamed Virgin Samoa. It ceased operations on 12 November 2017.
Ansett New Zealand was an airline serving the New Zealand domestic market between 1987 and 2001. It was a subsidiary of Ansett Transport Industries. In order to comply with regulatory requirements relating to the acquisition of Ansett Transit Industries by Air New Zealand, Ansett New Zealand was sold to News Corporation and later to Tasman Pacific Airlines of New Zealand in 2000, operating as a Qantas franchise under the Qantas New Zealand brand. It went into receivership and subsequently liquidation in 2001.
Jetconnect Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Qantas with its head office located in Auckland, New Zealand. Originally established in July 2002 as a New Zealand–based airline, the company stopped operating as an airline in 2018 but continues to employ pilots and cabin crew based at Auckland and Wellington airports. Crew employed by Jetconnect operate Qantas flights on trans-tasman services between Australia and New Zealand, with cabin crew also operating on Qantas long-haul flights alongside Australian-based crew.
Queenstown International Airport is an international airport located in Frankton, Otago, New Zealand, which serves the resort town of Queenstown. The airport handled 2.25 million passengers as of 2018 making it the fourth busiest airport in New Zealand by passenger traffic. The airport is known for its scenery and challenging approach to land due to the nearby high terrain.
Vincent Aviation was an airline based in Wellington, New Zealand. It operated air charter, freight and subcontract flights with a hub at Wellington International Airport. It was founded by Peter Vincent in 1992. On 28 May 2014 the Australian business was placed into receivership. On 24 October 2014 the New Zealand division was placed into receivership.
The history of Air New Zealand, the national carrier of New Zealand, began when the amalgamated East Coast Airways and Cook Strait Airways began operations in January 1936 as Union Airways of New Zealand, the country's first major airline. Union Airways was the sole New Zealand aviation partner in Tasman Empire Airways Limited (TEAL), which made its inaugural flight in 1940. The New Zealand Government bought full ownership of TEAL in 1961 and the airline was renamed Air New Zealand in 1965. New Zealand's domestic airline, National Airways Corporation (NAC), was merged with Air New Zealand in 1978. Air New Zealand was privatised in 1989 but in 2001 the New Zealand Government took up 80% ownership in return for injecting $885 million after the airline ran into financial difficulty. In November 2013, the National government sold down its share in Air New Zealand from 73% to 53% as part of its controversial asset sales programme.
Newmans Airways Limited, trading as Newmans Air, was a wholly owned airline subsidiary of Newmans Group and served the New Zealand domestic market between 1985 and 1987. It was set up in direct competition with Mount Cook Airline to serve tourist routes. In 1986, Ansett Australia purchased a 50% shareholding, increasing this to 100% in 1987 when the airline was rebranded Ansett New Zealand.
The Air New Zealand fleet consists of Boeing jet aircraft for long-haul flights, and Airbus jet aircraft for domestic and short-haul international flights. The airline also operates ATR 72 and Bombardier Q300 turboprop aircraft on domestic services.