Sep 6, 2009

Jetstar to fight V Australia for Fiji rights

After V Australia announced its intentions for Fiji as its second international destination, Jetstar has confirmed that it too wants to fly the South Pacific route and intends to scoop the air rights from underneath the start-up carrier.

In a filing with the International Air Services Commission (IASC), Qantas Group acknowledged Virgin Group’s intentions to fly Fiji and said it would apply for the same seats.

“The Qantas Group has noted the application by V Australia, dated 12 August 2009, for an allocation of 1,267 seats on the Fiji route,” said Qantas to the IASC.

“The Qantas Group intends to apply for an allocation of capacity on this route which would comprise shelf capacity and a portion of the capacity which V Australia has applied for.”

As both carriers have applied for the same limited capacity, the IASC has in turn asked both carriers to explain how their services would benefit the public and submit their responses before the 8th of September.

Due to the “limited capacity” on the route, the airlines will have to justify why they, and not their competitor, should get the air rights to Fiji.

V Australia intends to fly its 360-seat Boeing 777-300ERs to Nadi and is looking for rights to 1,267 seats a week, while Jetstar will look to fly its 213 Airbus A320s into Nadi with 1,491 seats a week.


Jetstar to fight V Australia for Fiji rights - etravelblackboard.com

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