17 March 2009

Delta spices up trans-Pacific fare war

SYDNEY Ã¢â¬' The heat building up under trans-Pacific air fare war has been turned up a notch with Delta - the world's largest airline Ã¢â¬' offering return Sydney-Los Angles flights from A$777 plus taxes.

Delta, which plans to launch services in July, will face intense competition from Qantas, United, and start-up V Australia.

Delta is also offering customers the chance to fly beyond LA for an extra A$200.

Destinations available under the deal include Atlanta, Boise, Detroit, Indianapolis, New York, Orlando, Memphis, New Orleans, Seattle, Salt Lake City and Cincinnati.

Direct Flights is utilising the new Delta services to offer, until April 9, launch fares from just A$1105 return, including taxes, from Sydney to Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, Detroit, Seattle, New Orleans, Salt Lake City, Cincinnati, Memphis, Indianapolis, Orlando and Boise.

The launch fare in Business Class starts at $7785 per person.

The Direct Flights US fares are valid for departures from July 3 - October 31, 2009, allowing Australians to enjoy summer in America at low season prices.

V Australia has defended its decision to launch onto what has become a hotly contested route after years of being dominated by a cosy Qantas-United carve-up.

At the V Australia launch last month Virgin Blue boss Brett Godfrey said, Ã¢â¬ÅâœWe believe weÃ¢â¬â¢ve got the best product and weÃ¢â¬â¢ve got the lowest cost base.Ã¢â¬~

He said V Australia would target the market that currently flies to the United States one-stop.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœWe are targeting and trying to grow the size of that pie through diverting that one-stop traffic, which at the prices weÃ¢â¬â¢re offering will not go one-stop. No, itÃ¢â¬â¢s not perfect. No, the timing is not good. But itÃ¢â¬â¢s still a good business model," said Godfrey.