Pacific Blue !!

Virgin Blue have today announced that their new international divison, Pacific Blue Airlines, will take off from a new home base of Christchurch, New Zealand on February 1st 2004.

Pacific Blue will initially operate daily services between Christchurch and Brisbane with plans to expand services between New Zealand and other key ports in Australia as well offering domestic services within New Zealand.

The choice of Christchurch as a New Zealand base was a natural one for the airline, since in many ways Virgin Blue considered it similar to its home in Brisbane. Both cities are known as key launching pads for tourism, but they also have a healthy economies and growing populations that enjoy a quality of life that is hard to match anywhere in the world.

Pacific Blue will launch its maiden service with a fleet of bright red, brand new Boeing 737-800 aircraft, emblazoned with flypacificblue.com on their side. The aircraft are fresh from the Boeing factory in Seattle and will carry the most modern technology in the South Pacific as well as 180 leather seats pitched to 31” or more.

When introducing the new name Mr Godfrey joked, “In order to get overseas we had to sacrifice the Virgin. But we haven’t given up a thing when it comes to our tradition of great service, modern aircraft and everyday low fares. This is a proud brand that we hope to fly throughout the Pacific region.”

More information can be found at http://www.flypacificblue.com

I think this airline should be a success following the lead of successful Virgin Blue. I wonder which airline will be opearting to Fiji and Vanuatu etc – Virgin Blue or Pacific Blue? Will Freedom Air manage with the new competition?

Regards
dan777