Viva Macau to start Sydney flights in August
A report by Scott Rochfort in The Sydney Morning Herald says that Viva Macau is set to become the second Asian budget airline to test Jetstar’s domination of the low-cost airline market next week when it is expected to start selling tickets for its first flights between Sydney and Macau.
The airline confirmed yesterday it planned to start flights out of Sydney from August 15, after it named former Qantas executive Con Korfiatis as its new Chief Executive.
“At this stage we’re starting with three times a week to Sydney and obviously we’d like to grow that to a daily,” Mr Korfiatis told the Herald after replacing Andrew Pyne as Viva’s chief executive.
Viva, which already flies from Macau to Jakarta and the Maldives, expects to add Tokyo, Osaka, Pusan, Manila, Ho Chi Minh City and Phuket to its destinations by the end of this year.
It is also eyeing Melbourne and Brisbane.
Viva will be the first Asian budget airline to fly to Sydney, with Tiger Airways, which is planning to set up a domestic airline, based in Melbourne this year, flies from its Singapore base to Darwin and Perth.
Malaysia’s AirAsia plans to start services to Australia in September, but not to Sydney, planning to fly to secondary airports with low landing fees such as Newcastle and Avalon, near Melbourne, also Jetstar’s base.
Before joining Viva in August last year, Mr Korfiatis worked alongside Qantas CFO Peter Gregg in the Qantas strategy department and he is best known for helping establish Qantas’s loss-making 44.5% Jetstar Asia franchise in Singapore in late 2004.
Like Qantas subsidiary Jetstar International, Viva has two classes, with economy passengers required to pay for their meals.
Mr Korfiatis declined to say which fares Viva will offer for its launch, however, it is expected the airline will offer competitive flight and hotel packages in Macau.
There is speculation Viva could offer three-day packages to the gambling enclave for as low as $700 and it has made no secret that part of its plans to lure Australians to Macau will be based on the over-supply of cheap hotel rooms in the territory.
Mr Korfiatis said the number of hotel rooms in Macau were expected to grow from 14,000 to 70,000 within seven years and by comparison, Singapore has 36,000 rooms.
Viva’s growth plans are mainly based on Macau’s emergence as a key holiday and gambling centre, with Mr Korfiatis saying, “Our reason for being here is to put Macau on the map.”
Viva ultimately plans to expand its fleet of two Boeing 767s to 15, and eventually fly to Europe.
Report by The Mole and The Sydney Morning Herald
John Alwyn-Jones
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