Richard Branson plans SA-Oz service

V AUSTRALIA, Virgin Blue’s new long
haul carrier, could begin services on
the SA-Australia route if its bid for the
additional frequencies made available
through the recent bilateral discussions
between South Africa and Australia
is successful.
According to FTW’s sister online
travel news service, TravelHub, V
Australia last month applied for the
right to fly between Australia and
South Africa.
Virgin Blue is Australia’s secondlargest
airline and was set up by
Richard Branson.
The airline will launch scheduled
flights between Sydney and Los
Angeles in December and between
Brisbane and Los Angeles in February.
According to TravelHub, it is planning
to introduce five flights a week
between Sydney and Johannesburg in
October using B777-300ER aircraft on
the route.
In terms of the bilateral agreement,
each country was awarded an
additional 10 frequencies per week
with four more weekly services
becoming available from October next
year and triple daily services possible
from October 2010. But neither
Qantas nor SAA has indicated any
intention to take up the additional
frequencies.