By James Wilkinson
V Australia is offering $1199 Sydney-Los Angeles return airfares as the airline prepares for its inaugural trans-Pacific flight on February 27, 2009.
V Australia will fly Boeing 777-300ER aircraft
The airfares are inclusive of all taxes and charges and are available for travel between Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne to Los Angeles from March 1, 2009 to October 24, 2009. Tickets must be purchased before December 29, 2008.
The airline will initially operate three weekly Sydney-Los Angeles services before ramping up to daily flights from March 20, 2009 following the delivery of additional Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.
The revised launch date of February 27 follows the end of industrial action at the Boeing plant in Seattle, which saw production on aircraft come to a halt for several months.
“While we never took our foot off the pedal, the team is now in full flight preparing for the delivery of our first aircraft, subsequent approval processes and of course the actual launch of Australia’s newest long haul airline,” said V Australia executive general manager, Scott Swift.
V Australia, the sister carrier of Virgin Blue, has seven, 328-seat Boeing 777-300ER aircraft on order, with the first due for delivery on Australia Day, January 26. The aircraft is then due to touch down on Australian soil for the first time on February 9, following the fit-out of special cabin features after the handover.
“From the outset, we committed to launching an airline that offered an outstanding and innovative three class option across the trans-Pacific. We also committed to offering value for money fares and the $1199 return all-inclusive fare currently on offer is almost half the normal fare and is very much in the spirit of V Australia and the festive season,” Swift said.
V Australia will offer three classes of travel on the Boeing 777-300ER aircraft – International Business, International Premium Economy and International Economy.
International Business will offer a fully flat horizontal bed, an à la carte menu and on-demand audio and video entertainment.
International Premium Economy will also be an all-inclusive dedicated cabin, featuring 40 seats with on-demand entertainment, 20 inches of width and a nine inch recline and no seat will have less than 38 inches of leg room.
International Economy is set to offer the most spacious economy seating option on the trans-Pacific route, along with individual on-demand seat back entertainment and seating in a 3x3x3 configuration, meaning an unparalleled 18.8 inches of seat width and 32 inches of leg room.
V Australia will be the only airline operating on the trans-Pacific route to offer the latest in-flight connectivity, including the ability to send and receive SMS text messages, along with email capability for GPRS devices such as BlackBerrys and mobile phones, exactly as they are used on the ground.
V Australia has also confirmed Wednesday April 8, 2009 as the revised launch date for its direct, three times weekly Brisbane-Los Angeles flights.
