Branson unveils launch of new Australia brand
The renaming of Virgin Blue as Virgin Australia will see the airline drop the bright red body paint from its aircraft in favour of white.
In Sydney to oversee the relaunch, Virgin Group’s Sir Richard Branson said the Virgin Australia brand represented a new chapter for the airline.
“I know it will shake up the Australian travel market on a larger scale than it did 10 years ago (when Virgin Blue launched),” he said.
The airline has successfully negotiated the renaming of its long haul offshoots V Australia and Pacific Blue, with both to be rebranded Virgin Australia.
A licensing agreement between Singapore Airlines and Sir Richard – the two shareholders of Virgin Atlantic – had given SIA the right of veto over the use of the Virgin name on airlines which fly internationally.
Virgin chief John Borghetti has made a number of changes to the airline since replacing Brett Godfrey. These include the launch of business class services and lounges.
Borghetti said the consolidation of the brand into one was a pivotal point in the airline’s Game Change Programme.
“From today, Virgin Australia will operate domestically in Australia. By the end of the year, our international product V Australia and Pacific Blue will also operate under the Virgin Australia name.â€
Borghetti also confirmed that Virgin Australia would re-launch its frequent flyer programme Velocity Rewards later this year.
By TravelMole Australia
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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